Bad Boys
by The Bride of constant Vigil
Summary: Highschool is all about labels, labels that follow you for the rest of life and define who you are and where you will go in life. But behind every person, and every label there is a story, a story that makes the person who they are, regardless of what others say. These are the stories of the five 'Bad Boys'
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:**

**Ra Dammit, another one. Yep, another one, what the hell, I have other stories to focus on, but no, instead I write this. I even have a poll for my next story, but instead, I write this. What the hell is wrong with me? Oh yeah, I get bored in class. Ra damn school wasting my precious writing time! Well, at least we get laptops, which kind of explains why I am doing so much more writing now. Oh crap, I'm rambling, let me just get you some info.**

**Pairings: Tendershipping, Bronzeshipping, Bakushipping, Conspireshipping, Fractureshipping, Geminishipping, Gemshipping, and more containing these five people **

**And to a lesser extent: Puzzleshipping, Puppyshipping, Chaseshipping**

**And others…**

**Character's ages:**

**15: Yugi, Ryou (Chapter 2), Anzu**

**16: Marik, Duke, Jou**

**17: Mariku, Yami, Honda, Bakura, Seto**

**19: Akefia, Atemu…if he's ever in the story**

**To the story…**

Starting a new school, in a new town, in a new country is never an easy thing. You have to try and fit in with the normal crowd, dodge the eyes of the popular kids, and most importantly, stay out of trouble. There is also the fact that whatever reputation you pick up in high school tends to stay with you for the rest of your life. So, that means, that a group of hormonious (I know it's not a real word, but it fits) teenagers are the people whose opinions sticks with you for the rest of your life. What a great bunch of judges, don't you think?

Well, what if you just came from another high school where you have already been labeled? You have two labels. You are the outsiders, never a good sign, and on top of that, you are one of the bad boys, an even worse title. This is a title that states that you will probably end up in jail, that you will never aspire to be more than a filthy street mongrel, but that isn't all true is it. Because behind every person or group there is a story, and one never knows a person until they know their story, because let's face it. No matter how much you run or hide from it, your past is what makes you who you are, and that means that your past is something you should embrace. Don't let it control you, you control it.

**The First Day of School**

"Guys, get your lazy asses up before we are late for school." A soft voice yells, the British accent being strained slightly under all the force being applied to it. A boy with pure white hair quietly makes his way up the stairs, finally reaching the top floor of his sleeping roommates' rooms and loudly banging on each and every one of their doors, calling out the names of each friend respectively. Groans of all ranges are heard ranging throughout the hallway as the boy moves toward his own room, grabbing a few items before making his way back downstairs.

Another teenager with white hair, this one a couple years older than the first, is the first one out of his room. His black plaid pajama pants clung tightly to his lower body, while his pale chest and face shone with sweat, however, the reason that he is so, would never be admitted. His chest moves up and down quickly, the man trying to catch his breath, as though he had just ran for a while.

"Ryou?" The male calls out softly, stumbling lazily towards the stairs, and then dropping onto the ground floor, stumbling lazily until he made his way to the bathroom.

"Ryou!" He says banging loudly on the bathroom door. The male continues to do so until the smaller of the two white haired boys finally steps out the bathroom. A towel wrapped neatly around his waist and another one wrapped neatly in his hair.

"Yes Kura?" The boy earlier addressed as Ryou replies. His bright green eyes looking into the deep mocha that is Bakura's eyes, trying to search for what might cause Bakura to act this way.

"It-It happened again." Bakura whispered softly, looking down at his boyfriend. Ryou's eyes go wide as he nods in understanding, he then reaches out a grabs Bakura's arm, leading the man off to his bedroom.

_Meanwhile…_

"Mariku?" A boy whines from under another male, the male atop him much larger than the one that he is currently crushing.

"Mmf." The sound comes from Mariku's mouth as he starts fidgeting around a bit, until he finally moves off of the smaller boy.

The boy sits up, his tan abs rippling as his upper body moves, his nude lower body being covered by the single sheet that remained on the bed after their nights activities.

"Morning lovely." Mariku says, kissing the other tanned boy much more delicately then what would usually be expected of the two. The older Egyptian tangles his fingers in the soft sandy hair the younger Egyptian owns, and uses his grip on the shoulder-length hair to pull the smaller boy into a deeper kiss.

By turning his head to the side a bit, he ends the kiss, much to the distaste of the older Egyptian. He even goes so far as to whine "Marik!" as a hope that his whine would affect his loves behavior.

"C'mon, we should hurry up and take a shower. If we get there before Bakura does, then we'll end up annoying the fuck out of him." Marik says, an evil smirk plastered onto his face. Mariku returns the smirk before picking up his boyfriend and quickly dashing down the stairs, his nude boyfriend still in his arms, the two quickly making their way down into the bathroom and the shower going on.

Soft moans quickly started erupting from the bathroom, as Ryou and Bakura make their way towards the bathroom. Ryou giggles softly as Bakura frowns. The smaller of the two white haired boys pulls his boyfriend into a soft kiss.

"C'mon. I'll fix up breakfast and then you can go and shower." Ryou says, pulling Bakura towards the question and pushing him into a seat.

"So, any requests?" Ryou asks a small smile on his face.

Bakura glances to the left for a second before looking back at Ryou. "Something that can be done in five minutes, because if we don't leave in ten minutes, we will be late." Bakura explains.

Ryou sighs. "Fine, you go and shower with the two dunderheads and we will…we'll just skip breakfast." Ryou admits, his eyes turning downcast.

Bakura kisses Ryou's cheek softly, and smiles brightly at the younger boy. "It's okay Ryou, tomorrow we'll wake up extra early and I'll help you make breakfast." Bakura promises. Ryou flashes him a small smile before quickly making his way to his room and preparing for school.

_At School_

Once the group makes it to school they quickly head to the admissions office. Ryou calmly knocks on the administrator's office, and waits until the door is open and they are led inside.

"Name and grade," The stout woman behind the desk says quite harshly.

"Bakura Ryou, grade 10." Ryou says, speaking first because his Japanese is the best, coming from a bilingual household.

The woman nods, shoving a time frame into Ryou's hands. The boy scans his paper before nodding his head. He then waves to the others before making his way out of the room.

"Next." The woman says, looking to the three remaining boys, and noticing how peculiar all the other males look.

"Ishtar, Marik grade 11?" Marik says, somewhat unsure of how he should be saying his name, working based off of what Ryou said.

The woman looks at Marik, utter distaste in her glare. "Here, and you two should take off your jewelry, it's against school policies." The woman states. Marik nods, slowly removing his golden artifacts and handing them to Mariku, who simply puts them back into his backpack. Marik then makes his way to class, leaving the two oldest of the group standing in the administrator's office.

"C'mon, he's gone. It's a process, who's next?" The woman says now thoroughly annoyed.

"Tozokou Bakura grade 12." Bakura says simply, his voice just as annoyed as the woman.

"You do realize that your last name means 'thief king' in Japanese right?" The woman asks skeptically.

Bakura smirks, "It's a damn good description of my family." Bakura says speaking the language fluently. The woman glares at him as he snatches the time frame out of her hands and makes his way to his first classroom.

Mariku, not wanting to get on the woman's nerves any more so than the others already had simply says his name and grade. The woman nods at him and gives him his time frame and he turns and makes his way to class.

_Ryou's P.O.V_

I stand outside my new homeroom, extremely nervous and scared. I have never been good at making friends, and well, after the incident at my last school, well I'm just extremely worried. What if people hate me for what happened at my old school? Oh dear, what am I supposed to do, I promised myself no more getting in trouble, and no more detentions, or anything like that.

The door opens and the teacher beckons me into the classroom. The moment I see my classmates my eyes go wide and I freeze, staring at everyone like a dear caught in the headlights.

"Would you like to tell us your name?" The teacher asks, and I quickly shake my head 'no,' knowing that my story aired in the news all around the world, and that if people didn't recognize me from the news, then they certainly would recognize their name.

"There there, no need to be shy. You came here for a new beginning, so let's start one." The teacher coos, as if trying to coax the name out of me.

"Anou…Bakura Ryou…" I say, and I feel my heart break and my chances of being a normal child go from two percent to one. I look down, using my bangs to cover the tears that threaten to fall down my face.

"May I please see your schedule?" The teacher asks, and I hand her my time frame. The teacher scans it for a moment before smiling. "Well, we have a bright young mind here don't we? Well, Yugi, would you mind showing our new student around for the day?" The teacher asks, looking over at a boy with black spiky hair framed in amethyst tips, his chubby little face surrounded by golden bangs. The boy's large amethyst eyes light up as he nods his head almost vigorously, and I smile, understanding that my chances of being normal just went from one percent to 1.5 percent.

"Okay." Yugi replies, flashing me a smile and beckoning me over to where he's seated. The teacher hands me back my time sheet before nodding to me and asking me if I would like to take a seat. I don't answer, instead simply making my way to the back of the classroom and taking the seat closest to the window. I proceed to look out the window as the teacher goes on with the daily schedule, my mind wandering back to why we had to move out of this school, and why my overall reputation is that of a bad boy. I would give anything to get rid of that stupid nickname. I'm not a bad person, I've been told so many a times by my boyfriends, especially Bakura.

Homeroom soon comes to an end and we move to our first class of the day, Pre-Calculus. Great.

Yugi waits for me outside our homeroom class and smiles once I finally make my way to him. He smiles at me and I smile at him, making a mutual agreement that since we already in a way introduced ourselves, there was no need for us to do so again.

"Well, let me see your schedule. I have AC Algebra 2." Yugi says with a smile on his face.

I give him my schedule and he looked at my first Monday class. His smile brightens as he starts walking ahead of me. "Wow, you must be really smart. C'mon, I'll show you to your class." Yugi explains as he leads me to my first class.

Once we are there he hands me my time table and leaves, smiling and waving. I flash him a smile and wave back before entering into my AC Pre-Cal. classroom. As soon as I enter there is a collective gasp, and I sigh, knowing that my chances just dropped back down to one percent. A small frown graces my lips until I hear a familiar voice.

"Ryou! Oh Ryou!" I turn and see Marik waving me over like crazy. I smile at my friend before making over to him, only to notice that there are already two people sitting beside him. "Ryou, sit in front of me." Marik whines and I move to take the seat before him, and try my best to ignore the horrified stares that I receive.

I turn to face Marik, placing a smile on my face so that he doesn't think that anything is wrong. "So, who are your friends?" I ask, noticing Marik chatting animatedly with the two people seated beside him. Marik holds a finger up to the guy with long black hair in a boy tail, and deep, yet bright green eyes.

"These are my friends Duke Devlin and Jou Katsuya." Marik says, first motioning to the boy to which he put his finger out to a moment before, and then to the blond boy with honey eyes. I smile and wave at them, I then stick my hand out to them and smile.

"Hi, my name is Ryou, Ryou Bakura." I say, and I smile even more when they both shake my hand and return my smile.

"Don't worry. Had I been in your situation, I would've done the same thing." Jou says, and I feel my eyes go downcast. I don't really want people bringing that up, and here we go, everyone is already judging me for it. I guess I should be happy, saying as that he's siding with me, but then again, so did the law, but that didn't mean that other's agreed.

"Ow." I hear Jou say, and I look up to see him holding his head and a peeved looking Duke, his hand not fully retracted so as to tell me that he had just slapped Jou across the head.

"You idiot. That's not what he wants to think about!" Duke yells before flashing me a small grin. I can't help but smile back at him, however, the minute he looks away my frown returns to my features.

"You okay Ryou." Marik asks me, completely ignoring the fight going on behind him. I smile at him and nod, finally taking note to the fact that there is no longer anyone sitting next to me or in front of me. Am I that despicable?

Marik also takes notice and decides to sit beside me. Once he is by me, he wraps his arms around me in a comforting hug, and I can feel his fist on my upper back, I think he's flipping off the other classmates. Oh dear Ra, Marik, please don't get me any more enemies!

Marik releases me from his brotherly embrace and gives me a soothing smile. I sigh and finally turn my attention to the front, motioning for Marik to do the same. He does.

The rest of the morning goes by in the blur, all I remember is having two more classes after the first, both of which I had with Yugi. He then invites me to lunch, and oddly enough Bakura, Mariku, and Marik all seem to have made friends with friends of Yugi's.

As I take my seat, I'm aware that both Bakura and Marik have started fighting, again. I am way to use to them, so while the others try and stop them, I simply sit and start a small conversation with Mariku, which slowly starts to include some of the other people at the table.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Yami, Yugi's boyfriend who looks almost exactly like him, except with scarlet tips and maroon eyes and a much more mature demeanor, asks. I sigh, he seems a bit too nosy, and it is actually starting to get on my nerves. My life is classified information, all of our lives are, it's personal.

"We grew up together." Bakura answers quite bluntly, which is usually our answer. However, now that Akefia is technically an adult, he is now our legal guardian, but even so, there are still so many problems, and laws that we are breaking, just to make everything okay.

"Really, did you two move when you were younger, because you guys seem Egyptian, not British?" Yami further explains, as though he is trying to weasel some deep dark secret out of us. I don't feel all that comfortable with him; I kind of want to end this conversation. Of course, as though Bakura and I have a connected mind, and he replies to Yami first.

"They moved there when we were younger." He says motioning to Ryou and I. "Now, tell me about you guys. I love getting to learn about other people." Bakura says rolling his eyes, and I realize just how alike he and Akefia are at times.

"Well, we now have another Seto, except he doesn't spend his entire life on the computer." Jou says, smirking at Seto who was furiously typing on his laptop. After a moment or two he looked successful, and smirked at the group.

"Well, well, well, don't we have an excellent liar on our hands." Seto says, looking over at Bakura.

"I'll break that laptop." Bakura growls and I sigh, pulling out my phone and starting to hack Seto. Yeah, we all had certain jobs when we were younger in order for us to survive.

Me – Hacker, Cute distraction

Bakura – thief 2

Akefia – thief 1, attractive distraction

Marik – look out

Mariku - …sometimes killed…

I use my phone and quickly hook on to Kaiba's computer, quickly looking through his files. Oh my, he owns a business.

"Hey, Kaiba, I didn't know that you owned a business. Oh, look, you got it from your father who died mysteriously." I say looking at Kaiba with a slightly evil glint in my eyes.

"That's classified information." Kaiba says, his eyes narrowing dangerously. I smirk at him, going through more and more of his information.

"It's all right here, in black and white. You know, Kaiba Corp. especially your laptop has weak security. I could've hacked this at twelve." I say, taking a sip from my ice tea.

Bakura laughs as Seto pales. "Get out of my computer." Seto hisses and I smirk.

"Sorry, I'm the one running everything now. Of course, we could easily resolve our issue and you already know how." I say a small innocent smile on my face.

Seto glares. "I thought you were the nice one."

I giggle softly. "I am, but you're threatening my friends, and because so, you meet the worse side of me." I reply, looking at him through large eyes. Seto sighs.

"You're good." He says as I save his work and remove him from whatever document our pasts are in. After that lunch continues as normal. We all continue talking as though our fight and me somewhat spilling that I am a professional hacker had never happened. I smile though, happy to for once be considered normal.

The afternoon classes move by quite quickly too, and at the end of the day, I find myself at my locker, by my lonesome, preparing to go home.

"So, this is the infamous Bakura Ryou, actually, that shows a tad too much respect, like you'd know, but I guess you wouldn't, since you are the infamous Ryou Bakura." A deep rumbling voice says from behind me. I turn around and see a giant man with black hair and the bushiest eyebrows known to mankind.

"My, my, I killed someone. I must be some major badass." The person says, holding out his hands as if they are the most delicate things in the world. Ra, how did those things get so big? It scares me!

"Oh dear, I'm sorry. You must be on the cheerleading squad. Um, I guess you already have your school's 'bad boys,' however, I have no intentions to be one of them." I say, wondering why they would allow such a giant man become a cheerleader.

"What did you call me punk?" The man hisses through his teeth. I gasp. I guess he isn't a cheerleader. I wonder why he was doing such feminine movements with his hand though. I mean if he was trying to act gay he is doing such a terrible job at it.

"I'm sorry; I thought you were a cheerleader. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go." I say making my way past him, of course, I only make it a few steps before I am harshly pulled backwards.

"Ouch! What was that for?" I call back to the big man. He growls at me, showing his larger than normal teeth. Dear Ra, what have I gotten myself into.

"Get the hell away from him." A booming voice says from in front of me. I look forward and see Bakura standing there, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Behind him, I see Marik and Mariku, both of them leering at the guy who seems to have me from behind.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I hurting your wittle boyfriend?" The man asks in a deploring voice.

"Actually, you are." Bakura says rather harshly, quickly making his way straight to the person holding me, and within a second I hear the man making a small gurgling sound and I see Bakura's balled up hand retract from the man's gut.

"Ryou, run!" Bakura says, however, all I do is get up and stare at him. Bakura growls and tries to push me away, but instead, I simply grab his arm and escort him away.

"You promised me no fights." I say as we walk quickly away, a peeved Bakura and an angry bully around me. Bakura scoffs at my statement, quickly flicking his head the other way, his long silver-white hair cascading as he does so. I smile to myself, inwardly resisting the urge to reach my hand out and play with his fluffy hair.

"C'mon guys." I say, leading the way home. The other three look at me, Marik's mouth a tiny bit open as though he wants to say something important. However, he swallows hard, making his Adams apple bounce up and down once. I cover my mouth trying to stifle the giggles that threaten to overwhelm me.

The other three boys simply nod before starting to walk. Of course, today of all days the walk home is one that is filled in awkward silence. What a shame, I am pretty curious as of how their first days went.

We enter into the house and remove our shoes and jackets. I then make my way to my room as the others lazily sit on the couch and watch television.

I sigh taking out my English homework. We are going to be reading Antigone this year, what a shame, I was so curious after Oedipus Rex that I have already read the entire series. So, this is basically all a review for me. I even have the copy of the book right here in my bedroom. I look at the book and start answering the questions about tragedy from Sophocles time. Oddly enough, we are doing Shakespeare next, King Lear. Unfortunately, I already have read that too. On the bright side, I have already read that too, it was amazing.

A small knock on the door disturbs me from my work. I make my way to the door, however, before I even get there, Bakura opens the door quietly, so that by the time I reach the door he's just standing there with a grim look on his face. "Ryou, we need to talk." He says, looking down at me with hardened eyes. Now, if I hadn't known Bakura for the length of time that I had, I might have been slightly intimidated, but I know him too well.

I move away from the door and I take a seat on the bed, motioning for Bakura to take a seat next to me. He does, and when he does, he pulls me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. I sigh, having had an awkward talk like this before, also known as the sex talk.

"What is it Bakura, stop making me feel so awkward." I complain to my boyfriend. Bakura gently rubs my thigh, and I blush, trying to understand what this is. I mean, does he? Dear Ra, I hope he doesn't want to! I don't think I'm ready.

"Ryou, what do you think of our new school?" Bakura asks me, and I sigh in relief. Luckily, for once something I do goes unnoticed by Bakura, or if he does notice, he doesn't say anything about it.

"It was really fun. I really think I have a chance of being normal for once!" I say, smiling broadly at him. Bakura flashes me a small smirk and bends down to kiss my neck. Of course, by now I am used to his form of affection, so it does not affect me, too much.

"So, no one brought up the incident…" Bakura says, a small frown sneaking its way onto his face. I frown to, trying my best not to think about it.

"Well, I think most people think I'm some crazed killer, and most of them ignore me, but we did make friends with that group of people, and they mostly didn't bring it up, and when they did, they agreed with me." I explain smiling again as I realize I probably made the first friends ever since I made friends with Bakura, Akefia, Marik, and Mariku. I smile again and relax a bit into Bakura's chest.

"And do you realize what that bully was trying to say?" Bakura asks, and I frown. Why had I not realized that that person was trying to hurt me? He was acting like such a cheerleader; I honestly thought he was a stereotypical gay.

"No, I thought he was a cheerleader or a stereotypical gay…" I say, making my eyes large so that he is not offended by what I had just said.

"Well, no, I don't even know where you got that from. Ra, I swear you are too innocent in all the wrong ways. I mean, I don't even know how that is possible, but you are street smart, but not…well, hallway smart." Bakura says, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "What I mean Ry, is that well, that guy was using sarcasm and he was trying to insult you." Bakura further explains, and I frown.

"Why?" I ask softly, trying to come up with any possible reason that he would hate me. Well, I guess there are a ton, it's not like I am even all that likeable, but, am I really all that hateable?

"Because, he doesn't believe you are a 'bad boy,'" Bakura explains, and I look away. I haven't told the others of my goal for the year, I guess maybe now is the time that I should.

"Bakura, I no longer want to be a 'bad boy.'" I say softly, so that I do not offend them. Bakura looks at me, as though he is hurt. I have to look away, trying not to cry, knowing that I probably lost my three boyfriends.

"Okay." Is the only answer I get, and I feel Bakura moving to leave, but I grab his arms and hold him tightly.

"Please don't leave me." I whisper softly, my nerves on high alert and my heart pounding fiercely.

"Never. Not me or not any of us." Bakura says, kissing my cheek before lying down on my bed. I move next to him and then move so that I am lying down next to him. Bakura wraps an arm around me, and then pulls me in so that I am resting my head in the crook of my neck. I smile and relax into Bakura's touch, hoping against hope that I never have to live without him or any of them.

_**Bakura's Journal:**_

_**Well, like I do with each one of these journals, I explain why the hell I am spending my time writing in this thing. Well, you see, Ryou has this funny idea that if we each write down our thoughts and our daily lives in this little book, then someday our stories can be sold and heard by the population. I don't see why anyone would want to read about my shitty life, but I guess those types of people exist.**_

_**Well, today was my first say at this new Domino High School, and already I hate everyone there. Ryou made me promise to try this year, and no fighting and a whole bunch of other crap. However, the fact that I have to try this year is what bothers me. I mean sure, I know that I am off to college next year, but because of Ryou, I'm now in all AP classes and college courses and such. Fuck that boy and that stupid bunny/maid costume. Yep, definitely innocent in all the wrong ways.**_

_**Well, we made, well actually only Ryou and Marik made some friends today, and quite frankly, I don't like them, well, Jou is tolerable. I can tell when someone grows up on the streets, and he definitely did. Well, so did Honda, but, there's something off about him, as if the elevator doesn't reach the top floor in his head. Well, anyway, the person I hate most by far, is Yami. I mean my Ra, conceited a little, and then he has the nerve to hurl questions at us. What the hell, our life is private, that's also why I don't like Seto. However, Ryou found some pretty interesting info on him that could come in handy at a later point in time. Then there is Anzu and Yugi, they haven't said much, but Anzu gives off the annoying slut vibe, and Yugi is with Yami, so if that is any indication of what he's like, then I don't want to get to know him. That just leaves Duke, and besides being an even worse pretty-boy then Marik, I don't see that much wrong with him.**_

_**Oh yeah, my life is oh so interesting. What does Ryou honestly think will make this thing an actual book? I mean, besides my past, there is nothing interesting about me. I guess the only reason we do this is to see that tiny smile on Ryou's face, because those, the real ones, are really rare. I didn't see a real smile on his face all day. Well, night.**_

**Author's Notes:**

**Well, here it is. At the beginning of each chapter I will have a random utterance of wisdom, and at the end of each chapter, you get one character's journal entry. Hey, this is somewhat like **_**Freedom Writers**_**. That is my and Ryou's inspiration, letting the world know their story, and that is their goal. **

**Review and take the poll on my page please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:**

**This story is only updating so quickly because I have had this evil plot bunny bouncing around for such a period of time, and then I read another fanfic and I had to get this story out. So, that's why it is here despite me writing seven other stories at this point in time. Wow, I am sad, I even started making a list of the order in which I plan to finish them, this story is not on the list as of yet.**

Birthdays, to many people they are a symbol of age and wisdom, a dreaded way of acknowledging that you are slowly getting older, and that you are coming closer to the day you die. A morbid way of looking at things, but it is true. Children look to birthdays for presents and smiling proudly at being called another year older. Teenagers look to birthdays as getting closer and closer to freedom, inching along the way to getting away from the evil clutches as parents. There is also the bonus of soon being street legal. Young adults cherish the years they have of freedom while starting up their lives and looking for love. Adults don't really look to birthdays, they fear the age that is being added to them, and are secretly counting down their years until the very end. Elders celebrate birthdays because that is another year they have survived another year, and they celebrate the ending of their lives.

Birthdays on the streets are much different though. A birthday to someone who grew up on the streets is very different, if you grow up on the streets, then every day is a struggle, a battle to survive. Birthdays, they are accomplishments, they mean that you made it, you made it through another year of constant battle, another year of the world looking down on you because you are worthless crap on the bottom of their shoes. Another year, that is an honor, that means that you have made it, and for that a birthday should be recognized. Living on the streets, that usually means you're in jail or dead by eighteen, but, if you can break that stereotype, then so can anyone else, right?

**Ryou's Birthday**

"Morning Ryou!" Marik says, violently banging on the small boy's door. Of course, there is no movement from behind the door, so Marik decides to continue banging on the poor innocent door. That is until the door opens and his arm is caught mid swing. The blond boy then looks up to see Bakura standing there, slightly annoyed, holding onto his fist as though it were the easiest thing to catch in the universe.

"Marik, would you shut up, he's still asleep." Bakura demands in a rather harsh voice, looking the younger boy dead in the eyes. Marik simply shrugs, pretty much used to the death glares received from the older members of the group, and quite frankly he doesn't really care anymore.

"But I want to be the first to wish him a happy birthday!" Marik whines, now trying to force his way against the older teen. Unfortunately for Bakura, he and Marik are exactly the same height, which made it all the much easier for Marik to get past Bakura and jump on the sleeping form of Ryou.

Ryou literally jumps a foot into the air before setting a very angry gaze onto Marik, crossing his arms, and pouting off into the distance in a childish demeanor. Marik giggles but wraps his arms around the smaller whitenette, softly nuzzling the boy's neck. A small whimper escapes Ryou's lips, and Marik turns a slight shade of pink, not used to all the sounds of Ryou.

"Happy Birthday Ryou." Bakura says from where he is standing, leaning coolly on the doorframe. Marik scowls, having completely forgotten the reason that he had come here in the first place.

"Happy Birthday Ry-Ry." Marik says, softly nipping Ryou's ear. The boy turns pink and looks away as Marik's hand travels further down his thigh, softly rubbing the boy's body. Ryou turns even pinker, and no one notices as Bakura disappears from the room.

Ryou smiles one last time at Marik before getting up and packing his bag. He then makes his way out of the room, only to be tackle-hugged by Mariku, the two of them hitting the ground, and Ryou hitting his head hard. A small yelp of pain escapes the teenager's lips as he clutches his hand to his head and starts speeding down the stairs, careful not to lose his footing.

"I'm sorry Ryou." Mariku yells off to the boy as he speeds down the stairs, of course, that would require actually fully understanding the reason that he is depressed. However, that brings up another fact, Ryou's always depressed on his birthday, and only Bakura and Akefia know why, however they have a threat hanging over them, and if they spill, they will meet a side of Ryou they never knew.

"Hey Ry." Bakura says, noticing the grim expression on the boy's face.

"Hey Bakura." Ryou greets back, a small frown on his face. The boy moves towards the other boy, and within a moment the two are in a string embrace. "I'm sorry Bakura." Ryou says softly, kissing Bakura on the cheek.

Bakura smiles, "Ryou, you didn't chose the day you were born, and the day isn't all horrible. Like I said before, you were born this day. That means that it can't be all bad."

Ryou shakes his head furiously, "I'm the reason for all the deaths." Ryou says softly, trying to resist the urge to cry.

"Smile, please. It disappoints me more when you don't." Bakura says, leaning in and kissing Ryou on the nose. A small 'hmpt' disrupts the happy couple however and the two turn to see Marik and Mariku hand in hand staring down at the two whitenettes.

"What?" Bakura asks, wrapping a protective arm around Ryou. Marik and Mariku raise an eyebrow at Bakura's overly protective caring form. They were used to Bakura being over protective of Ryou, but when had they had all these secrets.

"Well, we would like to know why you guys seem to be speaking of things we never heard of, or heard about. Are you guys keeping secrets?" Marik asks, his voice breaking towards the end. Mariku immediately wraps his arm around Marik in the same protective way that Bakura did and Ryou as he glares at the two white-haired teens.

"Can-can I tell you guys later. It-It's just that this is just such an…uncomfortable subject for us." Ryou explains, his bright emerald eyes looking downcast, his entire body shinning in the early morning light.

"Fine, but you know that there is a rule against secrets. Akefia would be mad at you." Mariku says, scorn evident in his voice. Ryou's eyes widen at the comment, and Mariku is either happy or worried for that moment until Ryou happily says.

"Ooh! Do you think that we could go visit him today?" Ryou asks, begging with the puppy dog eyes to get people to bend to his will.

Everyone is silent for a while, before they all smile simultaneously, all of them decidedly happy at what Ryou's one birthday request is. "Gladly." Mariku says saucily. Ryou looks at him, obviously missing the venom hiding in his voice, or to used to it that he no longer even acknowledges it.

"C'mon then!" Ryou says, jumping up from his little stupor and making his way to preparing for the morning.

**Marik's P.O.V**

I walk into homeroom and take a seat right by my desk, immediately banging my head onto the desk and then letting it rest in my arms. I can tell that people are looking at me as though I am crazy, however, I ignore them because I am not in the mood to converse with others.

I feel a soothing arm on my shoulder, and I look up to see Jou looking down at me with actual caring in his eyes.

"Tough morning?" He asks, looking me dead in the eyes. I look at him and give him as best of a 'like-hell' smile I can, and I feel better when he smiles back at me. "Trust me, I know the feeling all too well." Jou says, and I can't help but smile at him, hoping that for once someone can understand me.

"Look, I know this is kinda wrong, but I kinda went to Kaiba and asked for information about you guys, and well…we're a lot alike." Jou says, and I raise my eyebrow. So not only did he do a background check on me, but then he has the nerve to say that we are alike.

"Look, I know what that look means, it means that you don't trust me, but my dad abused me too, and I have the scars to prove it. I was even in a gang once, and a bully, but the people here, Yugi, Anzu, Yami…they saw me for who I really was, and because of them…well, I am where I am today. Look, all I'm sayin is that you have friends here. No matter how much you may doubt it, or how bleak things may be, the people here, they will always be here for you, and so am I, so if you ever just want to talk, just know that." Joey says, and I can't help but smile. True, his pain is probably nothing compared to mine, but he knows and understands the struggle, and what it is like to grow up on the streets, and that is someone who I need in my life. Maybe not like how I need the others (regardless of how mad I am at them), but I definitely need Jou, or at least for the time being.

"Thanks Jou, you made my morning." I say, flashing him a smile. However, even though I do feel better, I still can't but help and wonder why both Bakura and Ryou seem to be so depressed, and on his birthday of all days. I mean, true, neither of them had ever been overly happy about the day, hell even Akefia wasn't overly fond over the day, but why was never said.

I wonder why we didn't talk this over earlier. They had always been depressed over the day, and I guess I had always subconsciously noticed it, but why was it that I hadn't said anything about it until now. Is it somehow our fault that this secret has been kept from us for so long? Had either Mariku or I asked what had bothered them at some earlier point in time, would I–we not be questioning ourselves right now?

The teacher enters the homeroom with a smile, and that sort of bothers me. I have never been a good student, and well, Arabic and Ancient Hieroglyphics had been my first languages. I had to learn English when we lived an England, and now, I have to learn Japanese too. Unlike Ryou who is fluent in at least 20 different languages…because he gets bored, I am not good at picking up new languages. I still struggle with English, that's why we mostly speak Arabic at home. Hell, I'm glad that so many people here are also fluent in English, because if not, I would've been so lost.

The teacher starts talking about the plans for the day, and I can't help but wonder what the secret is. Oh Ra, I am not going to be able to listen well in class today, especially with the secret looming over my head, just teasing me with all its saltiness.

The bell rings and dismisses us to our first class. I sigh; of course it would be Traditional Japanese, my worst class. Ra wants to damn me to hell, I mean he has already done it once, what is it to start and do it again. FML and eff it hard. I smile at my thought, I mean I can't help the fact that Ra wants to see me suffer.

Morning classes fly by and soon it is time for lunch. Once again, I sit with Jou, Duke, Yugi, Yami, Kaiba, Anzu, and well, you understand the group that I am sitting with.

"Hey guys, guess what?" Yugi says, his chubby porcelain cheeks shinning in the artificial light. The entire table turns to look at the excited boy as Ryou tilts his head cutely as if asking what is so amazing about today.

"It's Ryou's birthday!" Yugi says, and immediately both Ryou's and Bakura's eyes go downcast. Yugi however, along with most of the people sitting at the table don't seem to notice.

"Happy Birthday Ry'" Joey exclaims, smirking over to the boy only to notice that he isn't smiling or blushing or showing any kind of shyness, it was just sadness and depression that lined his usual perky face. "Hey Ryou, are you okay?" Jou asks, looking over at the boy.

Ryou lets out a low sigh before getting up from the table. "I-I just need some time to think. Marik, Mariku, if you want to hear my side of the story then you might as well come, I'm gonna need someone to vent to." Ryou says.

Mariku makes a move to stand up, but I put a hand over his and motion for him to stay seated. This is not the right time to hear his side of the story; we need to get to him while he is calm. I nod to Bakura and he gets up, swiftly following Ryou out of the cafeteria. Silence ensues as everyone looks around awkwardly, trying to understand what just happened; all eyes end up on Marik who shrugs. "You heard Ryou, Mariku and I know nothing, what about you Kaiba?" I ask looking over at the man.

"I did not give your permission to not use an honorific." Kaiba says, and I roll my eyes. We are speaking English. English, the language where honorifics don't always follow names.

"Look, I'm giving you permission to snoop into their pasts and find out why they hate this day, it's your choice whether you do so or not." I explain, and two knives come flying our way, magically missing the rest of the people in the cafeteria and coming an inch away from killing Kaiba and I respectively.

"Okay, never mind," I say, sighing as I realize that even without being here they know what is going on. I guess I should explain that Akefia, Bakura, and Ryou all have this annoying gift in which they are able to tell what is going on with people in their eyes without actually being there. It's not link them being able to read someone's mind, no, it's more like them being able to predict the future, which isn't strange saying as that they all read tarot.

The other however still seems to be trying to understand how Bakura was able to get such a perfect shot. Yeah, well, no one needs to know why he and Akefia are known as the Thief King(s), however, the title does mainly stick with Akefia.

"So…" Yugi says, trying to build up a conversation after such an awkward intrusion. No one answers Yugi though, because no one really understands what just happened.

"I'm sorry, you hit a sensitive topic…don't worry, Mariku and I hit that same spot this morning." I explain with a sigh. It is going to be extremely hard to keep friends with them not knowing enough about us to know what topics are safe and which ones aren't.

The bell ends signaling the end of lunch, and I sigh, and realize that neither Ryou nor Bakura had eaten lunch today. Well, I guess…well I just don't know what to say.

The last few classes of the day flew by in a flash, the only time I saw Ryou was during Pre. Calculus and he didn't look much better than he did earlier, in fact, he looked even worse. I tried talking to him, but he kept his eyes downcast and extremely focused on what was going on in class. It annoyed me to no end, but I know he was hurting, he is hurting, and I just can't, don't know how, to help him.

The beginning of the walk home is unnaturally quiet, and both Ryou and Bakura are still depressed. I sigh, grabbing Ryou's hand and giving it a slight squeeze. Ryou looks at me, leans in, and kisses me on the cheek. I smile and pull him in for a real kiss. The kiss lasts only a couple of seconds, but by the time it is over Ryou looks at least a little bit happier, he even flashes me and Mariku a small smile.

"So, I guess you would still like to know what's so bad about my birthday." Ryou asks cutely, tilting his head just a tad to the side, his beautiful eyes slightly getting larger. I feel my cheeks heat up a bit, but at least I'm not the only one, Mariku has a slight blush dusting my cheeks, and even though Bakura isn't looking forward anymore, and his hair is covering part of his face, the blush is still evident against his pale skin.

"Uh, if you're comfortable," I explain, trying not to sound rude about this. This has to be something important, I mean, living with Ryou for five years has taught me that the boy is rarely depressed, except for on his birthday, Christmas, and Easter…strange isn't it.

"Well, you see when I was younger, family would come over for my birthday, at least ten of them have died by now. I know it's not much, but it seems like my mere existence is the reason that people die." Ryou explains, and Bakura looks at him, an unknown emotion on his face.

"Oh…" I never expected it to be something like that, and then there is the fact that, well Ryou said it like it was nothing, and then he is going to blame his mere existence for the death of at least ten people in his family.

"Ryou, it's not your fault." Mariku says, and I am surprised that he could be so insightful at a time like this, however, him saying that caused Ryou to start crying. Ryou starts walking faster and faster, and soon he is running up the street, and when I turn to look at Mariku, I see that he is somewhat hurt. He never meant to hurt Ryou, and it's rare that he shows so much affection, and Ryou just turned him down.

Bakura moves to go and chase after Ryou, but I catch his arm and pull him back. "Give him some time." I tell the older white-haired male, Bakura just looks at me as though he doesn't believe me for a moment. He tries tugging on my arm, but I just yank harder and pull him backwards. Bakura glares at me for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh and shoving his free-hand into his pocket.

We make our way home and once we do, we all quietly make our way to Ryou's room. Bakura tentatively knocks on the door, but there is no sound that comes from the room, yet oddly enough Ryou appears at the door a few seconds later, looking perfectly fine. He always does that, I wonder how actually, if any of us get mad, well, we are mad forever.

"Hi! Are you guys ready to go visit Akefia?" Ryou asks happily, moving out of the way and opening the door all the way into his bedroom.

Ryou is currently wearing a green dress shirt and gray jeans, one of his favorite outfits, and one of the ones that look best on his body. On Ryou's bed there are drawings, at least thirty of them. I pick one up and examine it. It is a picture of all of us from Christmas a couple years ago. You see, we can't afford really fancy cameras or anything like that, so we usually either use disposable cameras, or have either Ryou or Bakura draw the scene. This was the one from Ryou's point of view; it's actually really professional for someone who drew this at the age of thirteen. I blush when I realize that throughout the entire picture I am checking Mariku out. I mean sure, I was attracted to him, but that doesn't mean he has to acknowledge that in the picture.

"Like what you see." A husky voice whispers into my ear and I turn pink. I turn around and see Bakura smirking at me. I don't even understand why he is there, I mean, I am staring at Mariku, and then I look back at the picture. Both Bakura and Akefia are looking dead at Ryou, oh, are they doing what I think they are doing.

"Oh crap, you and Akefia are checking out Ryou!" I exclaim, turning to face a now pink Bakura. I look for Ryou, but notice that the birthday boy is nowhere in sight.

"I mean look at you guys, you guys are like staring dead at him, and there is even a cute little blush on your face." I tease, and Bakura simply growls at me, though I think it's more of a playful growl. Do people actually do that?

"Here, what do you guys think of this picture, I drew it earlier this year." Ryou says coming back to the room. The picture consists of a four year old Bakura and a six year old Akefia, Akefia leading the young Bakura as they run away from a house that seems to be in fire. There are tears in the small Bakura's eyes, but Akefia seems to be holding strong. The picture is only penciled and inked, no color, and it is stunning. Bakura moves to the picture and stares at it, tears in his eyes as he stares at the younger version of him, he looks at the picture for a few minutes before grabbing him and hugging him, careful to not damage the picture in any shape or way.

I take the picture from Ryou's hand and inspect it, feeling as Mariku moves to stand behind me and wraps his arms around me. I continue to inspect the picture, and I just can't help but marvel at its perfection. It seems as though every detail has been done perfectly, as though, he were there himself.

I look over to see Ryou and Bakura now speaking in hushed conversation, and that pit of anger that always rises up when information is kept from me rises again. I glare at the two, but neither of them seems to be paying much attention to me, even though it seems that Bakura glances over in this direction every now and then. The two then share a quick kiss before Ryou makes his way over here, smiling innocently as though he hadn't just done something that everyone knows gets on my nerves. I mean it is bad enough that I have to deal with three psychic people, but them withholding information from me, well that is just wrong.

"May I please have my picture back?" Ryou asks sweetly, and for once, well maybe not once, but I do want to hurt him, I want to wipe that stupid smirk off of his face, I want to see him cry out in pain, and I think I have the perfect way to do so.

I take the canvass in my hands and lift it so that it is above my knees. Ryou's eyes go wide at this point, and I can't help but smirk at the fact that I had won. They keep withholding information from me, well no more, if they want to play those dirty little tricks that they like to play oh so much, well then they are going to have to pay for it.

I bring the canvass down, but, it doesn't crack in two as I was hoping. I look to Ryou and I see him crying, but the tears in his eyes don't bring me comfort, they bring more pain instead.

"_It's a sin to make an angel cry."_

I remember when we were younger and Ryou had just joined our group. Bakura was always at Ryou's hip, though whether it was because Akefia had put him in charge of the boy, or if it had been because Akefia had made Bakura in charge of the young boy, it was unknown, but Mariku and I would always try and hurt him, because quite frankly, we were perfectly fine with having only four people in our group. I then remember the day that we _finally_ broke the kid. We were so happy, I mean, we had just broken the unbreakable, wasn't that cause for celebration. Nope, of course not, because the next time we saw Bakura, he had turned to us and said exactly that, those very words that still bother me today. Why is Ryou an angel anyway I think we all are as good as him, aren't we?

I give the picture back to Ryou and mutter a soft apology. Ryou takes the canvass back form me and gives me a small nod, he then nods to Bakura and he sighs.

"C'mon guys, let's get going before it gets dark." He says, and all four of us burst out laughing in the end. What is there to be so afraid of in the dark? The dark is where we belong, where we all prosper, even our little 'angel' prefers the darkness to the light, and he's supposedly our saving light.

We all make our way out of the room and start our walk to the jail. Well, I guess I should explain. Last year, some snitch, someone in our school gang, told where Akefia lived and he was later identified as the Thief King. He was then oh so kindly escorted to jail, where he has remained for the last year, well almost a year.

You see, because of Akefia's "circumstances" he is only going to be stuck in that hellhole for a year. I guess it also has to do with Ryou giving the judge puppy dog eyes, unbiased my ass.

We soon arrive at the jailing place, and Ryou has his picture checked for anything dangerous. The officer hands it back when she is done, then tells Ryou that he is an amazing artist, and blah blah blah…sorry, I was bored and stopped listening.

WE arrive in a small private room and Akefia comes in to see us. To say that Ryou literally jumped to him when he saw the older man, and flung himself in to a hug. I'll admit it was adorable, well, actually, Ryou is the freakin definition of adorable. It irks me just how cute he can be.

"Kefia!" We all squeal in unison, and we all move to give the oldest of our group a tackle hug. We all end up on the ground, and oddly enough, when Ryou sits up, he is straddling the older man. Ryou smiles at our lost companion, and I swear I can see him blushing, which actually makes sense, based on what I concluded from his picture.

Akefia sits up after a while and smiles at the group of us. He runs his hand through Ryou's hair as the little boy sits there giggling, and just out of the corner of my eye I can see Bakura glaring at the two jealously. I don't even understand that, I mean the worst that could happen is that Akefia gets sucked into our little foursome and we become a five-way. My cheeks heat up as I think of all of us doing each other at the same time.

So, that would be me and Ryou doing a 69, then Mariku and Bakura doing either one of us, and Akefia doing one of them. Oh dear, I think I'm hard. My cheeks turn bright pink, and I am aware of the other four looking at me.

"What?" Bakura asks, and then smirks, looking my body over. I blush even more.

"Nothing." I say, but by then everything has noticed what Bakura oh so nicely pointed out, and they are all laughing, well, except for Ryou who seems to be pink. Akefia just decides to bring Ryou to his chest and turn the boy's head away so that he isn't looking and his innocent mind isn't tainted. When Akefia does this, Bakura leans in and kisses the boy, at first the kiss looks gentle, but after a while it gets rough and Bakura pushes Ryou onto the ground, pinning him down hard. The two continue making out, however, much differently than before, and it kind of looks like he is struggling.

"Ryou made this for you, for whatever today is. Uh, actually, can you tell me what is going on in this picture?" I ask as I hand the canvass to Akefia. His eyes go wide, and I see a few tears in his eyes, however, the tiny pricks are gone before their existence can be properly acknowledged.

"Ryou drew this." Akefia mutters softly before he looks over at the two boys who are still making out rather roughly. I smirk, knowing that they will probably end up with a couple bite marks each. I wonder what the security guards will think, and what will our friends think tomorrow at school. Bakura has fangs!

"Okay, well I guess it's simply put, this is the day our entire family died, and well, this is the day when we dashed off and started our life on the streets. I don't know why we didn't stay, we were probably too scared of ending up in an orphanage, but this is why our little ban got together. Oddly enough, that's the day I met Ryou, I think someone in his family died that day too. All in all, it's not really a day I like to think about. I'm shocked Ryou remembers this day so well, he was only two." Akefia explains and I nod. I think I should be better, but I kind of feel bad knowing that I was mad at them for something so personal to them, but then I get an idea.

"I think we should celebrate this day, because two amazing things were born this day." I say, and I notice that everyone in the room is looking at me I blush a little, but then I continue.

"Well, today is, of course the day Ryou was born. But, today, if what you say is correct, which I believe, then today is the day that our little group was born, and it is two years younger than Ryou, therefore it is thirteen years old as of today." I say, smirking at the end at my own geniusness.

"Okay, so how do we celebrate?" Akefia asks, and I feel bad when I realize that he is referring to the fact that he is in jail.

"We only have 13 minutes left of our combines two hours." Ryou says, looking sadly down at the watch. I frown along with the rest of us and sigh, even Bakura puts Ryou back onto Akefia's lap, feeling guilty for what he has done.

Immediately, Akefia has his arms around the smaller boy and he is resting against the older man's chest. "Happy Birthday Ryou," the man whispers into the semi-albino's ear. Ryou turns a nice shade of pink, but ends up smiling contentedly.

"How many days left?" Akefia asks Ryou happily, and Ryou smiles softly at the older man. Ryou smiles, but we can all see the pain beneath the smile.

"122 days left." Ryou exclaims happily, and at that moment the police officer opens the door and looks over the current state of the room and raises an eyebrow at all of us.

"Time to go," The officer says, and we start making our way out of the room. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Akefia plant a kiss on Ryou's lips. The boy's eyes go wide and his cheeks are a bright pink as he exits the room.

The walk home is spent in silence. Our luxury is a dinner at McDonalds; saying that we can't really afford much more, I mean even this is stretching our money. I mean, Bakura ordered off the Dollar Menu, just so that the rest of us can get something more.

We walk home in the dark, but we all kind of take comfort in it. My hand is connected with Ryou's and the oldest people in our group are holding the bags.

We make our way home, and once we do we all sit in Mariku and my room and eat our dinner. Our dinner consists of us feeding each other fries, throwing fries at each other, random romantic gestures, and well things in that category.

A small smile is on both Ryou's and Bakura's lips as we all curl up on our bed and fall asleep. This has been a…nice day.

_**Akefia's Journal:**_

_**Well, today Ryou came in and gave me a picture of the day our house and family went up in flames. I never like remembering this day, but the way Ryou and Marik put it, well I guess it is worth it. I mean it was the day that he was born, regardless of how many people close to any of us have died. Though, I would feel bad if I didn't give a moment to those in my family who have fallen.**_

_**I hate this place. I know I've said it again, and like hell I'll say it again. All the guys here are horny, and sadly enough, I am turning into one of them. I mean, had Ryou come here alone, well, he might have lost his virginity earlier then he had planned.**_

_**Ugh, I am such a perv, I am thinking about a boy, four years younger than I am, in a dirty way, and the thing is, I am enjoying all these dirty thoughts. However, I refuse to show my weakness. I am not like these other men who would probably fuck anything that is living. I am a living human and I will not be as weak as these other humans. I will wait, patiently until someone actually loves me, though I doubt that will ever happen.**_

_**Great job Akefia, I just depressed myself and didn't really explain my day, well fuck anyone who wants to know. They should be locked up here with me if they are just going to be stocking my life. I know I am amazing person, but this is a tad tedious, doesn't anyone acknowledge that.**_

_**Night…**_

**Author's Notes:**

**Well, this chapter wasn't supposed to come out so early, but because of the excellent response (views wise, no one actually reviewed :( ) and because I have a goal to keep my views over twenty on a daily basis, this chapter made it to you early.**

**REVIEW AND TAKE THE POLL ON MY PAGE! IT WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!**


	3. Chapter 3

Money, some people have it, others don't, and then there are those who are left somewhere in the middle with it. Now, for those who have it, it opens up a lot more opportunities to them. It makes life so much easier, and things in life so much more accessible. Some people with money don't even know the definition of the word work. They have life handed to them on a silver platter, everything they want they get, they don't know the struggle, the struggle of living life as one of the less fortunate. Do you know how much money helps one? It can be the difference between eating and starving, being warm and freezing, getting somewhere in life and not.

Then, there are those people who weren't blessed with a life of perfection. No, these people had to struggle to make it through one day. There are nights in which they might starve, or they might be cold, just to make another day better. Education is usually a rarity, and even if they can afford education, sometimes it is at the cost of some other necessity, like warmth. These people scorn those who have all the money in the world, these people do not know what the struggle is, and I highly doubt that they ever will. Those who don't have money have a goal though, and they have a drive, something that some of those richer people lack.

**Lunch Money**

"Come on guys, get up," Ryou says tiredly, pounding on the doors of the elder males who he shared the small house with. The small whitenette sighs as nothing happens. He continues pounding on the doors of everyone's rooms, once again opening his mouth and bellowing. "GET THE HELL UP BEFORE I BREAK INTO YOUR ROOMS AND DRAG YOU OUT MYSELF!"

Once again nothing in the upper wing of the house happens and Ryou sighs. He then runs his fingers through his long snowy white hair and pulls out a small bobby pin. With said bobby pin in hand he starts picking the lock of the door in front of him, which just so happens to be owned by Mariku.

The door opens after a moment with a click and Ryou silently enters. All of them had to have some basic thieving skills, it was and still is their main source of income, whenever they go out on thieving expeditions that is. Even though Ryou resented the trade with all his might, he knew it was the only way to keep them going.

A large blond lump lays peacefully on the bed, his bare back facing Ryou, allowing the smaller boy to see the intricate engravings that are permanently etched into the skin. Ryou stares at the carvings for a while, always enjoying how beautiful they look against the bronze skin, but the nimmediately beating himself up for thinking such a thing, especially knowing the fact that he had to go through so much pain to acquire them.

"Mariku," Ryou says softly, though his voice isn't reflected in his action as he violently shakes the older male. Mariku lets out a low groan before turning to Ryou and opening up a groggy plum-colored eye.

Ryou looks past the male and notices Marik in the bed next to him. Ryou crawls over the first Egyptian and makes his way over so that he is straddling the smaller Egyptian. Ryou leans down and kisses the boy on the nose, however nothing happens.

"Why don't you try this instead?" Mariku asks as he moves his hand underneath the hem of Marik's pants.

The smaller Egyptian starts rubbing his body against the hand causing Ryou to buck up and down. The boy flushes as he realizes how awkward their position is, and quickly hops off of the bed and picks his way into Bakura's bedroom.

The older teen lies in his bed, the covers drawn up under his chin, and it seems as though he is huddled under them. Bakura seems to be paler than normal, and he is sweating, yet at the same time shaking violently.

Ryou makes his way over to the teen and gently runs the back of his hand against Bakura's forehead, noticing that there is no fever. He sighs, that only leaves one option, that being that Bakura is having his normal recurring nightmare.

The boy grabs both of Bakura's shoulders and starts shaking the older teen with as much might as he can muster. Bakura's eyes snap open and he looks around the room frantically. His eyes finally land on Ryou and in a quick moment he has Ryou in his arms lying on the bed beside him.

"You won't leave me, will you?" Bakura asks and Ryou shakes his head 'no'. Bakura looks the boy dead in the eyes trying to find the slightest hint of doubt in his emerald eyes. After a moment he buries his head into the crook of Ryou's neck, pulling the boy close, the two of them sharing in each other's body heat.

There is a soft knock at the door causing Bakura to jump up into a seated position and immediately his face contorts into a scowl. Ryou sighs as he slowly raises up, taking the time to stare at Bakura's bare upper body in the slivers of morning sun that stream in through the closed blinds.

"Come on guys, as much as we hate it, we need to get an education," Mariku says from his place at the door, fixing the duo with a lazy glare.

Ryou sighs standing up and looking around at the two before sighing. "Come on guys, I don't think we have enough food for breakfast so we are going to have to skip it. Come on though, who's going to be showering with me, we really can't afford to use too much water anymore either." Ryou says with a small frown. The others look at Ryou and they too frown. Ryou was long ago put in charge in money, and because they had actually bought McDonalds for Ryou's birthday a bit over a week ago, they now had even less money than normal.

"I'll shower with you Ryou," Marik says, grabbing the small pale boy's hand and leading him towards the bathroom.

**Mariku's P.O.V In Homeroom**

Urgh, school. I wasn't lying when I said I hated it. I guess I should just be grateful that somehow Bakura and I ended up in the same homeroom. I mean besides homeroom and lunch, we have no classes together. Apparently, it is because Ryou seriously cracked down on him and made him do his work.

Now, don't get me wrong, this does not mean that I am an idiot, because I want it on record that I am not an idiot, but I am not a genius, I am simply me. It's good to know that everyone is okay with that, at least I hope.

"Hey, philosopher, a penny for your thoughts?" Bakura says as he plops down in the desk before me. His voice is harsh, like normal, but his eyes are kind and forgiving, you know those eyes that he saves for those who are supposedly worth it in his eyes.

"I hate this place," I deadpan and Bakura smirks at me. I knew not to expect any actual sympathy from him.

"Well, suck it up, Ryou wants us to 'have a future off the street' and I'm not going to be the one to disappoint him. I also don't want to be the one who pisses him off," Bakura says, a shudder running down his body.

It is a fact, do not piss off Ryou, all those who did well, it didn't end out well. Just ask that kid who tried to rape Ryou at our old school, oh wait, he no longer is able to answer questions. A small shudder runs down my spine and I sigh.

"I don't understand him, but that's beside the point. Damn I am hungry, what I wouldn't give to have a good hamburger right now." I complain and Bakura takes pity on me again. After we took Ryou out, well we all started eating less and less, some of us often skipping meals just to make sure that we had enough money. All of us were starving, I mean my stomach was giving me hunger pangs, and if I were to take a guess, we probably bought only enough money to pay for one maybe two lunches. We would be sharing or only having one person eat…

"Come on, we've gone through this before, and we can do it again," Bakura says, though his stomach decides at that moment to make a deep grumbling sound. He places a pale arm over it and I sigh. Neither Ryou, Bakura, nor Marik had fat on them, and Ryou and Bakura were also lacking muscle, it is no surprise that they would be struggling this much, well Ryou really, he just is _perfect. _You would barely recognize that he is struggling, and it is annoying. Where is his humanity?

The bell rings signaling that homeroom has officially begun, and both Seto and Yami just walk in through the door as though it is the most casual thing. They take their seats and start chatting, I sigh. I wonder, do people understand what true struggle is.

The teacher makes her way into the classroom with a plastic smile on her face, she starts going over the daily events and I sigh. We are still pretty damn early in the year, and yet they speak as though we have been here forever, which for many of them they probably have. I guess we are the newbies, and we have to make a whole new life here.

Class dismisses and I make my way to calculus. A small sigh escapes my lips and I frown. True, I am in Honors Calculus, but it's just that I never took an interest to it. Even worse, I have to deal with Yami. Now, it's not like he is the worst person in the world, he just isn't all that tolerable. I can't stand rich people, they don't understand shit.

"Alright, turn to page 27 and start with your lessons," the teacher says as she walks about the room. "Also, take out last night's homework, I am walking around to check that you have done it, and after you finish page 27 I will go over the homework." The teacher explains and I open the book.

I sigh, this stuff is so easy, why didn't I do like Bakura and apply for AP Calculus. I take out my pencil and start answering the questions. I work quickly and I hear Yami murmur something to some girl that is sitting across from him, behind me. The girl giggles and taps my shoulder.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me." She asks, fluttering her eyelashes in a way that she thinks is attractive. I roll my eyes.

I look the girl over a moment and notice how tight her uniform seems to be, I sigh again and turn back to my work and continue. I feel the girl tap on my shoulder again, but I make no move to acknowledge the fact that she had done anything at all. She continues tapping my shoulder and a low growl escapes my throat.

The teacher comes around to my desk and gives me a smile at me when she notices my homework is complete, she then taps my shoulder and points to the girl behind me. I roll my eyes at her and she cocks an eyebrow.

"She's trying to get me to do her classwork." I explain and the teacher simply laughs at me.

"No silly, she's our head cheerleader, the only thing that she would be trying to do is to seduce you," the female laughs, her long brown hair flying over her back. "I would consider myself lucky if I were you, the only other person she's ever tried to seduce was Yami, and she's a very smart, nice girl." The teacher continues with a light voice, I feel bile rise in my throat.

"What's her name?" I choke out, trying to keep the bile from erupting from my mouth. The teacher smiles thinking that I am finally starting to fall for her star pupil. I finally take a look at the teacher, and besides the obviously brown dyed hair, I realize that she looks exactly like the girl I am trying to avoid.

"That's my niece Vivian Wong," The teacher says smiling brightly at the girl, the girl smiles back and I frown. "She is also a champion fighter and a model," the woman continues, hmm, maybe I should inform her of my…preferences.

"I'm gay," I deadpan and both the girl and the teacher glower at me as though I am some unwanted thing stuck to the bottom of their shoes.

In the background I hear Yami start laughing, and that is when I remember that he too is gay, or at least bi, and from what I have heard she tried flirting with him first.

"All the good looking guys," Vivian huffs and turns back to speaking with Yami. I sigh as I look back to my work and notice the large D turned from an A on my homework page.

"Yeah, she hates homosexuals so you end up failing," Yami explains and I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. He gives me a sympathetic look, and for a moment I consider reversing my intense hatred of him, well, not intense yet, but if he doesn't stop acting like a pompous ass jerk, then it will be.

I continue my work ignoring the glares that the woman sends at me, and when class is finally over I am one of the first people to exit the classroom. I refer back to my schedule and I am glad to note that I have gym next, and even better, I have a little friend in my gym class.

**Locker Rooms**

I make my way through the lockers and find the person that I have been looking for. My hands grope his behind and he makes a small squeaking sound causing a bunch of people to openly gawk at us.

I smirk at them and pull the smaller boy in my hand in for a passionate kiss. His hands automatically wrap around my neck as my hands start wandering over his body, and suddenly I am curious as to whether or not we will be attending gym class today.

Finally Marik breaks the kiss and I pout, I mean, most people have already left the locker room, and they now quite obviously know that we are gay, so what are they going to do if I take him here. I smirk as I move and start attacking the delicate skin on his neck. Marik throws his head back and gives off a small moan, his arms now on my chest, desperately trying to push me away.

"Mmm…Marik…u…we ha…aaaa…ve…oh Ra….shit Mariku we have class," Marik says, finally pushing me off of his body.

I sigh and give him one last peck on the cheek before turning and making my way to my locker so that I can change. By the time I finally make it out the class is already starting stretches and the teacher shoots me a glare for being late. I sigh and notice that Marik isn't even meeting my eye, a small growl erupts from my lips and I make my way and take a seat next to him. Once I take my seat Marik shoots me a smirk and I feel slightly better.

Next we start running laps, and like always Marik and I are at the front of our pack. Of course, all our lives we have been running, from the day that we ran away from home, to all the times we ran away from cops in, everything, running is no longer a task for either of us, it is just a lifestyle, a pathetic lifestyle, but a lifestyle no less.

We finish our lap and we split up for sports. I naturally make me way to the American football field, while Marik goes to just the main football field. The game starts and I dominate many noobs.

**Lunch**

"Ra dammit Ryou just go by the Ra damned lunch!" I hiss Bakura and Marik nodding to me in agreement. We only have enough money for one lunch and we all are starving, but honestly, Ryou hasn't eaten in three fucking days and the boy is much skinnier than he used to be, which is pretty sad because from what the last time I checked, the boy was basically skin and bones already, so what is he now, bones?

"Fine then give me the money!" I demand sticking my hand out. Ryou gingerly hands the money over to me and I smirk. I make my way to the line and buy a meal of fries, a burger and a drink. I then grab a knife and put ketchup on the tray and make my way back to the table.

"Watch," I say, ignoring the angry glares that I seem to be getting from both Marik and Bakura. I finally take the knife and evenly divide the hamburger into four different pieces. I then hand each of them a piece and watch as they all eat. Marik and Bakura gobble down the sandwich and I do the same, however, Ryou seems to be taking his time and nibbling the sandwich slowly.

We start taking some of the fries and sharing our single drink, pointedly ignoring the awkward glares that we seem to be getting. I finish my fair portion of the food and I start feeling nauseous, oh crap, that's probably why Ryou ate so slowly, he is the one of us who has the most experience with starvation.

"Shit, I feel like I'm gonna hurl," Bakura says quickly getting up and dashing out of the lunch room, Marik is up right after him, and then so am I. We all make our way to the bathroom, and once I get in I already see Bakura in one of the stalls hurling, the few other guys…and that one girl in the bathroom staring at him in horror.

I sigh but I have to cover my mouth as I find my way into another stall and do the same as him. I hear Marik in the stall near me and I frown, we shouldn't have done that, two days without eating and then we stuff our faces, damn we are idiots.

Finally, we make our way back to the lunch room to see Ryou sitting their innocently, already having finished off the last of the food, however, almost none of the drink has been touched by him. We all take our seats and I sigh, a gross feeling in my mouth.

"That was stupid of you guys, here," Ryou says handing Marik the drink. The smaller Egyptian takes the drink and I frown as he takes a large swig of it. He then passes the drink to Bakura who does the exact same thing, lastly he passes the drink to me, and I down the remainder of it

Ryou takes our tray and throws it away, throwing us a pitying look. I sigh, "You have been sighing a lot lately," Bakura notices and I frown, why wouldn't I, there is nothing good going on in life and everything seems to be going downhill in our lives.

"Guys, we have to do another raid," Ryou says as he takes a seat, his voice leaving no room for discussion, "tonight," he says with such finality that seems more characteristic to Bakura.

Bakura looks at the smaller boy, his eyes now narrowed and serious, these are the things that he takes most seriously, well besides his art, but he would never openly admit that. "Fine, but where, we can't really go to our last place, saying that there were a few deaths that occurred, and we need a place that will bring in big money." Bakura continues and I smirk, after Akefia was jailed, he took the job of being the main planner and the one who was exceedingly good at what he does. He is always so serious now, and I know that he just really misses his cousin, but seriously, he is turning into him, and Ryou is turning into Bakura...does this mean that Marik will turn into Ryou, me into Marik, and Akefia into me...that would be strange, scary but strange.

"What about a night club?" Marik asks, and all eyes at our small table snap to him. I raise an eyebrow at him and beckon for him to continue, I mean his plan does sound like a good one, and I am kind of surprised that he would think of something so scandalous and dirty yet so brilliant. Dear Ra, he's turning into me...so who am I turning into?

"Well, it's simple, dance with a few people and pick pocket them in the middle of the dance and move on. We are at a bar, and people are bound to have some money." Marik explains and both Bakura and I nod, however, Ryou seems flustered and as if he is trying to avoid the entire scenario.

"Ryou, you don't have to go if you don't want to." Bakura says and both of us nod, I mean what is the likeliness that Ryou would be comfortable with this, and even more importantly would he be safe, he is small and effeminate looking, which means that he can easily be taken advantage of.

"I'm going to go and sell some paintings then…" Ryou says softly, his eyes downcast. Ryou has never been good at socializing, and when it comes to using his body to get things, it is rare that he even uses it for cuteness, and the sad part is, that he is attractive too, he could be very helpful.

"Okay, good luck Ryou, but you can also do some pick-pocketing while you are out on the main stream." I explain and he nods as he gets up. At that exact moment the bell rings and we make our way out of the cafeteria and to our afternoon classes.

**6:00 PM at home**

"Here you guys go." Ryou says handing us the last two cups of ramen. I pull the boy into my seat and frown as I try and get him to eat some. I hover the plastic spoon right at the edge of his mouth and wait for him to open his mouth. After a long while he does and I feed him the soup, however, as soon as the spoon is in his mouth he takes it from me. He then dips the spoon back into the little cup and motions for me to eat it.

I should also explain that since Marik and I never adapted to the Japanese culture well, we tend to do things in a more either Egyptian or British way especially food, the hamburger was because it had a lot of calories, and we are all dying of hunger, technically, normally we are vegetarians, or at least at some point in our life time we were. Marik does try and not eat meat, but it's not like we have enough money to have good vegetarian meals, so we often have to eat meat to keep us going.

I eat the soup off the spoon and before I can grab the spoon to feed Ryou again, another spoonful of soup is waiting by my lips. I look at Ryou and move to grab the spoon, however Ryou starts speaking softly. "Please, you guys threw up your lunch, so now you guys need to make up for it." He explains and I nod, I then start swallowing each spoonful, taking notice to how Ryou doesn't seem to be moving quickly on purpose, in fact, the pace is agonizingly slow.

After a while we finish our dinner and Ryou gives me a small smile. Hmm, actually because Ryou made us all eat so damn slowly, I'm full now. Impressive, I'm going to have to remember that more often.

Ryou then starts scolding us and reminding us that all of our homework better be done, while Bakura finishes up many of his paintings so that they can be sold. You see, we have a guy who buys both Ryou and Bakura's paintings and then sells him off as his own. True, this means that neither of them are getting credit, but the man pays good, and he has too, because if not his 'art career' will fail and we might just launch our own.

I grab Marik's arm and lead him up the stairs. None of us are technically of legal age to be going to our clubs, but, Bakura has made us fake I.D's so that we can get through. The more important thing though, is getting dressed. We need to look sexy…ier than usual so that we can get more people to dance with us.

I make my way to the back of my small closet, Marik standing right behind me, and I pull out our outfits. I throw Marik's outfit to him while leaving Bakura's in the bed.

I smirk as I watch the smaller Egyptian strip, damn, the boy has no clue just how much of a turn on it is when he takes his shirt off like that. I mean I swear that he is tracing his hands up his body like that just to tease me, and the sad part is, he is damn good at it.

"Marik, save the seduction for the club," I say with a smirk, watching as the boy drops his pants. Marik turns and winks at me, and that is when I decide that he needs to be taught a lesson.

I pin the smaller boy to the wall of the bedroom we're in and bite his neck, sinking my canines into the tender flesh below me. Marik screams out in pain, but it soon turns into a low moan as I start licking at the blood welling up from the bite, smirking when I realize that it is going to bruise. At least people will know to keep their hands off of him, he is mine!

I then roughly grind my hips against his, causing him to moan loudly. I smirk as I continue licking up the still welling blood, and pinch the small boy's ass so that he bucks right into me. He moans again and tilts his head for better access. Hmm, why didn't he do that earlier, he must be out of practice. Shame, I'm going to have to reteach him.

My fingers loop around the band of his boxers and I look the boy dead in the eye, waiting for permission to continue our little escapade, however, at that exact moment someone clears their throat in an annoyed manner, and we both turn to see Bakura at the door leering at the two of us.

"What? You can join us if you would like." I say to him, raising my eyebrows and hoping above hope that he would say yes and then we would be able to have some hot sex. No such luck however as he shakes his head no. Damn virgin, he claims to be waiting for Ryou; sooner or later we will fix that, one of them is going down, and they are going to enjoy it.

"Look guys its already 8:30 and Ryou has already left, we need to get going too," Bakura explains and we all nod and get dressed.

**At the Club 10:07 PM**

We enter the club, and notice that it is one of those cheesy stereotypical clubs. The walls are a plane white with a black trim, as is the dance floor. However, the entire club seems to be strewn in colorful strobe lights, which bounce off the walls, and light up the group of sweating, writhing bodies on the dance floor. The bar is off to the side, with a small sitting area, this area is wooden with gray chairs, and all in all looks pretty tacky, The DJ at the front is one of those that you see at a teenage club, and the stage at this point in time remains empty, this is just a time for dancing I guess, or this isn't a strip club. Oh well.

"Okay, Marik, you need to stay away from the bar, one we don't need you getting date raped and two, that bartender is giving you a curious glance, actually I think that he is aware that we are under-aged. Besides that, hump as many people as you can, and if they pay for a blow job take it." I explain with a smirk, planting a kiss on each one of their cheeks, of course Bakura hastily rubs his off, acting like a young child getting kissed by his grandmother.

"Bye," Bakura says as he waves his hand and makes his way to the dance floor. I envy him, he is a twig, and honestly, leather pants fit him well. I then kiss Marik one more time full on the lips before turning and making my way into the group of dancing young adults.

As soon as I hit the middle of the floor I start moving my hips in a provocative manner. I keep up with the fast rhythm of the music, all the while winking at any of the curious eyes that seem to wander over towards me.

A girl finally makes her way towards me and starts dancing against my body, her ass trying to make provocative circles around me so that I might bed her. I smirk at the unlikeliness of her wild fantasies, though I start running my hands down her sides, and I smirk when I find her wallet. I pull it out of her pocket and quickly slip it into one of the hidden ones within my outfit.

I dance with the girl for a little longer before I switch to another one who starts humping me straight up, I mean what the hell, is she seriously that desperate.

"Touch me…" The girl whimpers and I smirk as I run my hands over her slim body, her black hair sticking to her sweaty face and neck. The smell of perspiration and a cheap perfume that was probably used to mask the stench that seems to be coming off of her.

I find her pocket where her money is located and I feel a large wad. This is going to be slightly harder than I thought, though it is nothing. I simply slip my hand into the girl's underwear and squeeze her slightly, causing her to moan and puck forward, all the while easily extracting the money from her. I smirk, people are so pathetic nowadays, and they all want to get laid.

"Well, I gave you your wish, but don't worry, I'm sure that there is a guy in here, that for the right price would happily lay you." I say with a smirk, staring down at her. The girl's obviously contact covered red eyes looks at me, tears falling down her cheeks. I smirk as I let go of her and walk over to a less desperate girl and start dancing.

**Home 2:49 AM**

We sneak back into the house so as not to wake Ryou, however, I guess we have trained the boy too well because we walk pass him hiding with a knife in his hands.

"Oh, it's just you guys," Ryou murmurs and Marik jumps being a tad tipsy and not having noticed that Ryou was waiting there.

Bakura smirks and pulls the boy to him and planting a sound kiss on the boy's lips. Marik then grabs the boy and kisses him, and I can tell that he doesn't like the taste of alcohol on his lips by the grimace he makes as he pushes himself away from the small blond. I smirk but then grab him and place a kiss on his neck and then slowly make my way to his lips.

"So, how much did you get?" Bakura asks as he looks over at Ryou, a curious look in his eyes. I know he would never admit it, but he wants to become an artist.

"Me, I got $2,760, as he becomes more famous we get better pay." Ryou explains with a smile, and we all can't help but hug him. I swear, those two albino's are our saviors at times, I mean; I didn't even have to touch that girl's ass with all the money we made. I mean, Ryou does somehow manage to keep up with bills and taxes, don't ask me how, but we tend to have enough money to live in our home and keep a pretty good life, except food and other luxuries.

"What about you guys, how much did you make?" Ryou asks looking at each of us respectively, though deciding to wrap his arms around Marik to make sure that he doesn't trip or anything. Bakura then turns to me, though I notice his eyes are watching Marik, making sure that he doesn't try and grope the smaller whitenette.

"$1,832," I deadpan tossing the large wad of money to Ryou, the boy catches it and his eyes go large, staring at me as though wondering how I got so much money. "Some girl I danced with had like $1,500 dollars on her, I think she was planning on paying certain people to lay her." I explain and the other's nod, somewhat unsurprised by what the girl was planning. Well, honestly, the amount of prostitutes we have met, and how kind many of them tend to be, who would be surprised.

"Hmm, Marik has $768 dollars," Ryou says, having quickly counted Marik's money. I smirk and hug the small Egyptian boy as Ryou takes the money and makes his way to wherever he keeps the money. There is then the faint sound of the door closing and I know he has gone to bed. I pick Marik up and start carrying him to our room, and I am faintly aware of Bakura slipping into Ryou's room.

_**Marik's Diary**_

_**That's right I called it a diary. I mean, if I didn't I wouldn't feel like this was personal. Anyways, I decided to write this up now so that I won't forget and anger Ryou. Dear Ra that boy is scary when he is angry.**_

_**Anyways, I have been spending more and more time with Joey, and I gotta say, he is pretty cool. Apparently he used to be in a gang, but then he left, and the gang is still mad at him. He lives in an abusive household, so he tries to never go home, so I told him that he could spend the night whenever the need arise. I guess it just feels nice to have someone who is like me. I mean we even compared our fathers for a while, and I got brave enough to show him the scar that Mariku and I share. He showed me the scars from his father beating him.**_

_**I'll admit, it is really nice to have him as a friend, and he is so damn loyal, and understands where we are coming from. Now no, I don't like him, I just feel the need to explain what it feels like to have a friend outside of the group. In fact, I think the only person that I have outside feelings for is Akefia, and well, you could understand why right. He saved me from the streets, then grew up into some sex god like thing.**_

_**Damn, I'm horny now, crap, and with the heist going on later. Ugh, I can't believe that Ryou suggested the idea of a heist, I mean, he's usually the one who says we need to get a job and all that righteous crap. However, there is a rule at this school against students having outside jobs. I mean what the hell, aren't schools supposed to support teenagers being able support themselves and grow up, but no, so we have to do it the illegal way, suck it up Ryou.**_

_**Hmm, that's about it, and now that I have aroused myself thinking of Akefia and Mariku naked and well some other less appropriate things, hmm, Mariku is my new victim of the night…**_

**Author's Notes:**

**Haven't worked on this story in a while so I decided to make another chapter. I should be doing my homework, but thanks to a friend I decided to do this instead. You hear that (blank for privacy) if my homework isn't done it is your fault!**

**Anyways, please review and take the poll on my page. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sports**

Every now and then, we hit one of those things that we consider a great equalizer. An equalizer is something in which most variables do not apply, and most people have the same chances and abilities as the others. As you can see, the first great equalizer in this story is sports. Now, why are sports an equalizer when those who have tough lives tend to be better at them?

Well that is because while those with tougher lives have much more conditioning than those whose lives are a walk in the park, sports skills tend to be inherited, or things that you are just born with. True, those who aren't born with a knack for sports can learn to play and eventually become good, but let's face it; those who were born with raw and natural talent for the sport will always come out above.

However, there is one way in which money can help you; besides the obvious I am going to bribe you to let my child onto the team. No, those people with money can sometime hire better coaches, trainers, or equipment for their child to get ahead. But then again, there are also many places that one without money could go to learn their sport, and even get better playing against all those steroid infused people that they seem to hang around.

**Making the Cut**

"What if I don't make the team?" I whine again, using my friends to complain to in this instance because honestly, who else was there to complain to.

We are currently passing a park, and for a moment I am dazed by the array of colors that seem to be descending from the trees. The sun shines down on the Earth, but there is no warmth, instead, harsh winds whip through the air, tearing leaves off of trees, and then taking the fallen leaves for rides, as though the final moments of their lives are spent on a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

"You will, there is no one better than you at football." Ryou exclaims as he jumps up and clings onto my arm, ignoring all the strange looks we get. I smile at him and he gives me a smile back, honestly, somehow, a smile from his can brighten an entire room, or area, especially when it's real.

Finally, we make our way into the school, and Ryou releases his grasp on my arm as we make our way through the large looming gates known as Domino High. A small frown makes its way to my lips as we walk through the gate and I see the famous Sakura tree that sits innocently on the front lawn. The Yugi gang sitting there and talking about Ra knows what.

"Hey Marik!" Jou calls making his way over to me. I smile at him as he jogs his way over to us a goofy smile plastered on his face when he makes his way over to me.

"I see ya tryin' out for the soccer team." Jou exclaims, and I smirk at him. You see, Jou plays football, or soccer as he and the other American's call it, team, and we are both trying out for the team. I guess that was obvious though, I mean it is the reason I am freaking out and annoying everyone within a ten foot radius.

"You play soccer too?" Ryou asks with a slight cock of his head, making his white hair drape over his left shoulder, his large emerald eyes sparkling in wonder that is common to a young child, which I guess in a way Ryou is.

"Yeah," Jou replies with a shrug, Ryou simply nods and makes his way over to Yugi, who is currently speaking animatedly with Yami.

"Hey, ya know how ya offered me ta bunk with ya whenever I needed it?" Jou asks, and I nod. I think I would remember a promise that had to do with me allowing someone else to come into our house and use our hard earned money and resources, but I'm not going to tell him that that was what I was thinking.

"Yeah," I simply respond, already guessing that he is going to ask to bunk with us for a while. I wonder what he did now.

"Well, you see, my sister is coming into town next week, and well I don't want her to be living with my father, especially after she has just had surgery. I would ask one of the others, but well, Yugi has to take care o' gramps, I don't want Honda near her, same with Duke, and well, I would ask Anzu, put her parents don't have the money or time." Jou explains, and I sigh.

"Please, I would give you guys the medicine and even a bit of money to pay for food for her! I really need her to bunk somewhere!" Jou moans softly, and I sigh.

"Fine, I'll do it," I mutter, and Jou gives me a wide goofy smile, before pouncing on me abd giving me a hug.

"Thanks bud!" He exclaims and I sigh. That's when the warning bell rings. The two of us look at each other, and within that moment we dash off to make it on time for homeroom.

Jou and I just make it into class on time and I am aware of the teacher glaring at us as we make our way into the classroom just as the bell rings. I smirk at the teacher before quickly diving into my seat and sitting up innocently, smiling at him.

_Lunch_

"I can't believe that tryouts are today. I haven't done a flip off of flat ground all summer!" Yugi exclaims, his hands close to his chest and his body constantly moving up and down in eagerness or in worry, a wild smile is plastered onto his face and his amethyst eyes wide.

"Yugi, you'll do fine, you are our school's best male gymnast!" Anzu exclaims, as she looks over at her friend with a large smile plastered on her face. Yugi flushes and turns to dig his head into Yami's chest.

I frown, Ryou has always been the gymnast in our little family like thing, and now he has his head hung low as though he might not make the team.

You see, when we were young Akefia believed that we needed to take any chance that we could and turn it into a career, therefore, we each had to pick up a couple of sports and artistic talents. Oddly enough, those two skills have been way too helpful in our lives, and I often stop to wonder how. Okay, now I sound like a philosopher, I never dwell on the past, I gotta keep moving forward.

"God I hate track…" Bakura deadpans and I smirk. Bakura is pretty fast, and he is an excellent runner, the thing is though, people often consider him a distance runner, and that isn't really his thing. He wants to be a sprinter, but he just sprints for way too long. I mean, have you seen he speed through a 1600, he finished in under six minutes, and if he keeps going at the pace he's, sooner or later he might break the world record. Then again, there are many unofficial records that have broken that record, they just haven't been documented.

"You run?" Yami asks, a small a smirk on his face.

Bakura glowers at the man, but then turns away huffing. "What do you think genius?" Bakura growls out, and I notice out of the corner of my eye, Mariku's hand slipping under the table.

"You don't have to be so mean to him. He was just asking a question." Anzu exclaims, and Bakura glares at her, but within the next moment he jumps up a bit and then glares over at Mariku before his face turns to more of a sarcastic passive state.

"Whatever," Bakura deadpans, smirking over at Mariku as he does so.

"So, what sports are you guys doing?" Yugi asks conversationally, his eyes roaming over us.

"Oh, I play football…er, I think Jou calls it soccer…" I reply, the unfamiliar term falling through my lips in clipped Japanese. I don't like the sound of my broken Japanese, and I would much rather speak in Arabic or English, I can at least speak those languages better… I mean what is soccer.

"I do track when I have no other sports." Mariku informs, his fork poking at the salad before him disinterestedly. I sigh, I know that he likes meat, regardless of our vegetarian upbringing, I guess he just doesn't want to stray from his roots, but he just really does like meat, almost as much as Bakura does.

"And when you have other sports, he meant all of the sports, not just the ones you are doing in the fall." Yami deadpans and I roll my eyes, does he need to know every freaking piece of information there is about us. What does he think we killed someone and he needs to find a way to prove it so that he can convict us or something?

"My only important sport is football, or else it is just track for me," I deadpan and Jou sighs. I smirk, already knowing that he also plays hockey, and hates the fact that I keep calling 'soccer' by its proper name. Please take note to how only American's seem to call the sport soccer, and have this odd perception of what football really is.

"Well I do American football and hockey, but those aren't until later in the year." Mariku explains with a shrug.

"I play basketball and baseball," Bakura deadpans, taking another large bite of his hamburger, and I have turn as I see the meaty juices slide down his pale cheeks. Ugh, I hate how sloppy he looks right now.

"Really, Yami plays those sports also," Yugi exclaims, and I can see Ryou roll his eyes, and I can't help but notice how adorable he is when he does that. Now, Bakura might not be a basketball star, but he is probably one of the best baseball players that I have ever seen. Also maybe he notices how annoying Yami is.

"Yeah, what positions?" Yami asks, a lazy smirk on his face, as though he feels as though he may be better than the other man before him.

"Shooting and center," Bakura explains and Yami nods.

"Cool, I do point and pitcher." Yami explains haughtily and Bakura simply shrugs, honestly not caring where Yami plays.

"What about you Ryou?" Yugi asks innocently, looking over to the white haired boy who has been silent this entire time.

"Me, well I do gymnastics and diving," Ryou explains as he looks down innocently. I smirk; the boy is probably the best actor that I have ever met. I mean he has this ability to just look so cute and innocent, even though he has so many dirty and evil thoughts running through that mind of his.

Of course as soon as Ryou answers, and right before Yugi has the ability to make a comment the bell rings, and we all jump up and make our way to our next classes.

"Wow, you got a sporty bunch there," Jou exclaims as he walks beside me down the hall, and I can't help the arrogant smile that makes its way to my lips.

"Same with you," I smirk as I return the compliment. We slowly make our way to our next classes, and I plop down in one of the seats in the back of the room, I then turn and look out of the window. A small sigh escapes my lips and I can't help to just wonder about the entire world.

I mean, has anyone ever taken the time to just think and ask questions, like why is it that humans can perceive colors though many animals can't? Why do we see the sky as blue, even though in actuality it is purple? What is someone else's life like? What would my life be like had Mariku and I never escaped that tomb?

I internally wince as my back stings for a moment and I frown. I used to love my skin, I used to love the feeling of the fire from the numerous candles on my skin. I loved the heat, and as a young child I even dreamed of feeling the sun beating down on me.

I'll tell you this though, when you are running from your past in the middle of the Sahara desert, the sun beating down on you, even in the light linens you are wearing to keep you cool, you become hot, you become sticky and tired, and in that moment, you would do anything to guarantee that the evil sun hides. I wince again, this is just so wrong, so different.

A ruler snaps upon my desk and I jump with a slight start. Finally, I turn and look up to meet the steely dark brown eyes of my teacher, a small frown graces my lips as I stare at the teacher's scowl.

"Ishtar, would you like to explain to the class what you thought of _If I Should Die Before I Wake_ by Han Nolan?" The woman asks me, her brown eyes staring at me, as if waiting for me to slip up. A small frown crosses my lips, because even though this is English class, the woman is prattling on in Japanese, and saying that Japanese is my fourth language, I am not really good at it.

"English please," I demand in my broken Japanese.

The teacher scoffs at me and hits my idle hand with the ruler before rattling on in Japanese so quickly that I wasn't even able to understand what the woman was saying. I sigh as I bang my head onto the table, I mean all I want is for this day to end. Would it be too much to ask for this day to end?

Another two whacks to my upper arm and I look up and glare at the woman.

"Detention tomorrow after school," she hisses, and I can't help but wince, there are still some tryouts that will be tomorrow, and I really want to make the team. I'm not smart like some of the other ones, I am good at sports, and that is where I can be me. SHIT!

I look over at Jou with large yes, imploring him to help me out. However, the man simply shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, his shaggy blond hair flying about his head as he does so. I frown but then nod towards the teacher as she stalks off, a triumphant smirk placed upon her face. I glower at her and stick my tongue out at her, enjoying the childlike joy that comes from showing the woman who's boss, even though she can't see me. I see why Bakura does this now.

Class soon comes to an end and I make my way to my Pre-Calculus Honors class, smiling as Ryou takes a seat next to me and the rest of the class glares at us as though we were something wrong. I roll my eyes at them, but instead smile at the little group of four that I am with during this class.

"Dude, that teacher has always been a bit pissy," Jou exclaims and I can't help but smirk at him. Way to Jou to always have my back in school, even if we just met. I mean, for the most part we have the same classes, but we are in separate electives. I believe that he is taking that program for future police officers.

"Which one?" Duke asks, while Ryou simply looks over at me, cocking an eyebrow in question towards me. I shake my head and mouth the word 'later' to him as he wait for class to start.

Class once again goes quickly, and of course, we are still doing a bit of review from algebra 2, so Ryou got bored and started doodling on his notebook, and of course I was jealous, I mean the boy was drawing chibi versions of the five of us (me, Bakura, Akefia, Mariku, and Ryou) glomping each other.

Class soon ends and we go to our last class of the day, which coincidentally is our elective. I blush as I enter into one of my electives and prepare for our daily assignments. I can't help but smile as Mariku also walks into the room. Oh, if only people knew all of our deep dark secrets, especially what our little hobbies include, or our past includes.

We cruise through the last period of the day before both Mariku and I dash into the locker room, making sure that we keep our tank top undershirts on. Some things, just aren't meant to be seen by the eyes of the students here, and I don't want people to know anything about us.

_On the Field_

I look around the long grass field that spreads across the land in numerous directions. The sun is still high in the sky, but it is nowhere as warm as it the rays of sun make it seem, and I frown as the crisp autumn air blows past me, making me miss the warmth that the summer had to offer. I unwrap my sweatshirt from my waist and then pull it on over my t-shirt, just as Joey jogs out onto the field and stands beside me.

"Nice field ya got here," I compliment, looking over the field, and taking in the fresh paint lines, the perfectly cut grass, and the beautiful goals at either end of the field.

"Yeah," Joey answers, and he gives me a lopsided smile, which I notice seems to often be on his face. Joey is such a light-hearted person, it almost always makes me wonder what he is hiding from me, and what really happened in his past.

"Okay, you guys see the track right over there, right? Go run six laps around it." A gruff voice says, and Marik turns and sees a balding man in about his forties. He wears a red shirt and gray sweat pants, a whistle hanging limply at his chest, and a clipboard in his hand.

"That's coach, he seems harsh on the outside, but truthfully he is pretty nice. He does have an obsession with running though, and once you make the team you have to run 3200 meters (2 miles) every practice. I simply nod as I jog towards the track and notice that Bakura and Mariku are also starting their laps.

I smirk as I fall into step behind the male track team. Though, I am pretty sure that Mariku is a thrower and doesn't only do track. I didn't even know that you were able to do both, but I guess he is that type of person.

We continue for our first four laps, and that is when the boy's track team finishes, both Bakura and Mariku flashing me a smirk before making their way over to the corner of the field to stretch.

I look to my side and notice that I am a bit ahead of the group, and that there are a bunch of what seems like freshmen who are wheezing at the back of the group, their bodies obviously out of shape. I just shrug my shoulders and continue at the pace that I have set up for myself.

By the time I am finished my breathing is only slightly heavy and I am standing beside coach waiting for the rest of the team to finish their laps. The coach gives me a one over before saying, "You are pretty in shape, and I like that. However, we run as a group, which means we go as fast as the slowest runner. However, since you are new to the team I will let you slide." The coach informs and I nod, just as the rest of the team finishes their laps, a group of them gasping for air and doubled over.

"Okay, time to stretch, Takeshi, lead the men," The coach directs, signaling to the tall teenager with short red-dyed hair. The teenager nods and leads us to the middle of our field where we start with a series of different stretches to get us loose.

"Okay, now I want to see you do some dribbling drills," The coach informs before blowing his whistle, at this point the first people in line start going up and down the field dribbling the ball. We do this for a while before we switch to doing sprints up and down the field and different forms of moving the bodies.

We then move on to different defensive maneuvers, and I notice that Jou seems to already be wearing the gloves that I usually see by the goalie, I never suspected that he would play there.

"Jounouchi, go defend the goal, other goalies, I want you to watch him. The rest of you I want to start scoring some goals." The coach demands, and so we start shooting, and that is when I realize just how good of a goalie he is, I mean, he hasn't let a single ball go past him yet. Even I didn't get the ball past him.

We go a couple more rounds with Jou before some of the lesser experienced goalies take their turns. Here I repeatedly score goals and I can't help but smile proudly. Unfortunately for me, some of the other guys did the same as I did, and therefore my skill wasn't accepted as much. Oh well, I'll show him.

We then get to our positions and start simulating game-like situations. Unfortunately for me, the team captain plays the same position as I do, and he is pretty good, of course, I feel as though I am doing much better than he does.

Finally, coach calls tryouts to an end and I jog over towards him. He goes over the fact that we will have tryouts again tomorrow, and what time he expects us to be here. He also informs us that tomorrow will be the last day of tryouts before cuts are made, and I nod.

Once the group is dismissed I tentatively make my way over to the coach and call out to him.

"Oh, Ishtar, good job today out there kid, you've got some skill." He compliments, and a bit of heat goes to my cheeks and I feel slightly embarrassed.

"Thanks," I reply as I pack up my things and make my way over to where Bakura and Mariku are standing. As I reach them I notice the matching smirks plastered on their faces, and once again I am blushing.

"Hey, where's Ryou?" I ask innocently looking around for the younger white-haired teen.

"Changing, I wouldn't really want to walk home in something so tight either." Bakura comments and I nod.

After a moment Ryou comes out dressed in sweats and a t-shirt and we start on our walk home.

"So, how did you guys do?" Ryou asks innocently and Bakura simply shrugs.

"How well can you do in track when you are only deciding what distance you can run?" Bakura asks cocking an eyebrow. Ryou rolls his eyes and hits the teen upside the head. The two then start a mini-fight, ending when Mariku gets the both of them in a headlock.

I laugh at the funny position the three are in and at the people who are staring at us, probably wondering what the hell is wrong with us. This is why I love these guys, they are the strangest people I have ever met, but I can't even begin to conceive what a life without them might be like. This is what a perfect family is like, wow, I am getting sappy…

_At Home_

"Guys, stop playing around and start your homework," Ryou commands, coming outside in a tank top and his sweat pants from before. I smirk at him making my way over to him, only to be cut off by Bakura who pulls the boy into a hot kiss. I pout as the two seem to making the kiss deeper, that should have been my kiss!

I feel two hands on my hips and immediately I am spun around, and I come face to face with Mariku.

I stare into his pupil-less plum colored eyes for a moment before gradually moving closer to him. He too leans in a bit and closes the small gap between us with a kiss. His lips are firm against mine, and I can't help but melt into him, like I almost always do.

The kiss lasts a bit, and I feel his tongue probing at my lips, as though asking me to let me in. I do so. The warm muscle rubs against the inside of my mouth and I feel my tongue rising to meet his. Our tongues battle for dominance for a while before I finally take the roll of being the submissive.

The kiss ends and I notice the way that Bakura and Ryou are staring at each other, however, I know that despite the lust in their eyes, Ryou is obviously too afraid to say anything.

"Callin' it, nothing's gonna happen," Mariku chuckles and I can't help the smirk that forms on my face.

"C'mon, we need to start our homework." I inform him and he nods. We slowly make our way into the house as Bakura crashes his lips against Ryou's again, his hands wandering up and down the male's body.

I sigh as I enter into the living room and pull out my homework. I have an essay to write for Traditional Japanese and honestly, I suck with the language anyway.

I move and pull out one of the two laptops that we own. Of course, we decided that we would split the laptops, Ryou and I owning one, while Bakura and Mariku shared the other. Luckily for me, well all of us actually, that both Ryou and Bakura do digital art, and therefore, the man who we sell our art to gave us enough money to buy two computers that were capable of keeping up with them, which meant that they had to be some pretty good computers.

I start typing my essay in my natural language of Arabic, glad that computers could easily become multi-lingual. True, I am probably going to get a D on this assignment, I didn't listen well enough during class to understand the topic, and I suck at Japanese in general, but luckily for me, I am good with all other classes, especially math and my two electives.

I feel heat rushing towards my cheeks at my very, feminine, electives. I am not necessarily the strongest, or the toughest, or the best artist or musician, but in those two areas I shine, and my talent is highly respected.

The door slams open and I hair the sound of people walking in and talking softly amongst themselves. The English moving so smoothly between their lips, their light accents filling the air as it does so and I can't help but smirk, things really won't change. Those two will never be willing enough to push the other into bed and take what they so desire most from the other at this point in their relationship, but they will stand there and go on and on about memories of the past, cherished or despised.

"Hey, guys, what do you want for dinner?" Ryou asks, entering the room topless, sweating, and with a few bruises on his neck and chest. I almost gasp at the sight of him. Besides the sight before him was not only shocking, but slightly arousing, they had gone farther than usual, did this mean that they were getting closer to admitting their feelings for each other.

"Hmm, a simple salad would be nice, could you add a bit of the veggie-chicken, we can have a chicken Caesar-salad." I explain and Ryou nods at me with a smile before disappearing back into the kitchen. Of course, the moment he disappears, soft moans can be heard from the kitchen and my eyes go wide. The two of us turn to look at each other for moment before similar smirks cross our faces.

Within a moment we are at the door, our heads on the door, listening closely to the soft sounds that exit the room.

_**Mariku's Journal,**_

_**You have no fucking clue how much simpler my life is now that we have money for food, and that there are sports. I'll admit, I was getting a bit large around the sides from all this lack of exercise, but finally. Also, food, okay, I like to eat, and even though I was raised a vegetarian, I'll admit, REAL meat is pretty good. However, I know that in a way, I am kind of like a role model for Marik; therefore, I refuse to eat meat in front of him.**_

_**Okay, so maybe I should explain how my first day of track went. Well, it happened. I learned that I am a sprinter, apparently, heavier more muscled people tend to be thrown into the sprinters, while thinner people do distance. Also, with throwing, apparently I have to throw it correctly, and do a double practice daily because of me doing both sports.**_

_**So, Bakura and Ryou almost had sex, and my Ra I am surprised. I mean I thought they were never going to get there. They need to hurry their asses up though, because even though Marik is fine, it would be nice to get something new, and try a four way. I know that little boy, regardless of how innocent he seems, I know what he thinks, that boy can be as much of a pervert as anyone else.**_

_**Uh, how do I end this, there is nothing going on, so I can't rant. Even school is being reasonable. **_

_**Oh, that Vivian bitch, I forgot about her. God, her and her aunt are always bitching at me and giving me bad grades. I notice that Yami seems to be having the same problem that I am, and he doesn't seem like such an idiot. Maybe it is time for me to sell my soul to the devil and try and get rid of this problem, because honestly, if I want to get into a good college, I will need some better grades, and I am not going to let some random bitch be the reason for it.**_

_**Night, damn, now I am all riled up and shit, whatever, I have homework to do.**_

**Author's Notes,**

**This chapter sucks, but I do need to start adding the rivalry between the characters. It needs to be fueled, because even though the plot of this story well, is barely considered a plot, there is so much more that I have to do before I can get to my favorite part. Ugh, that's like another million chapters away.**

**So, Review?**

**Or the Poll?**

**Or both?**

**Be nice, please!**


	5. Chapter 5

Every school has a black market. Some of them are hidden; which is the only way for them to prosper and thrive. Now, I believe that most have heard of the black market and know what the black market sells, but here's a little information for those who don't. It is a place where people of all kinds can go and get any form of illegal drugs, alcohol, or really just about anything that you're not really supposed to have.

Now, some may say this is another great equalizer, but instead, I consider it a great stupidizer. Yes, maybe it makes you feel better for a few moments, but, then you are back to feeling like shit. For that reason you go back to it, get high once again, and then come crashing down. As a result, you go back to get some more. Sometimes you get so high that you need something to slow you down and bring you back to Earth, or even lower. It's a treacherous cycle really, that only ends up hurting you. So without further ado, I introduce you to drugs, a lasting theme in this story…

**Happiness**

"_Stupid boy," the man says with a twitch of his blue mustache. He was staring at me, his dark eyes appearing black in the darkness of the night. I shivered, the fall night winds starting to get to my small frame. I take a step closer to the car and to the man that I have long called my father; only to have the car door slammed shut before me and the car drive off into the night. I shiver again. Why is it so cold?_

"Ryou?" The voice is soft, shaking the small body beside him; however, there is no reaction and the boy shivers again. The owner of said voice sighs as he pulls the smaller boy towards him in a comforting hug. Had he gotten sick; why was he shivering like this?

Bakura sighs, his warm breath causing a few strands of hair to fly about Ryou's head. The boy seemed to have cuddled into him, trying to feel the warmth of the man beside him. He was so cold; his body kept shivering, as though it was stuck in a frozen tundra.

Another sigh escapes Bakura's lips as he wraps his arms around the shivering boy and pulls him close. Frowning when a small grunt escapes the boy's lips and he starts to struggle a bit. Reluctantly, Bakura raises a hand to start stroking the ivory strands, but winces when his fingers get caught in a tight knot. Poor kid was going to have to try and get that out in the morning. Bakura couldn't help but snort to himself after that thought. Oh the simple problems. Hair, clothes, music, even grades, they were nothing compared to the real world. Cold, hunger, pain, sadness, death; that was real. Staying alive to face the next day head strong is what really counts.

At that moment the alarm clock decides to go off, alerting the others to the new day. Wait. When had they attained the alarm clock? Had they always had this contraption? Where and when had they gotten the money to buy this? Did Ryou buy this? Did he know how much money he had wasted for the small luxury of a clock that wakes you up? Dammit! This money could have gone to food, another television, Marik and Mariku's motorcycles, Bakura's car. Why did he waste the money on something so pitiful?

Bakura couldn't help glaring at Ryou's snowy tresses. It's not like he could properly glare at Ryou with all his hair obscuring his face. Beside the two, the alarm clock continues its incessant ringing and a small moan escapes pink lips. Bakura raises an eyebrow at the kid, waiting to scold him and give him a piece of his mind. Another moan and this time the boy rolls over slowly, emerald eyes blinking into consciousness.

Ryou scans the small room before rolling on top of Bakura and hitting the shrieking clock on the head, successfully shutting it up. From there, Ryou snuggles into Bakura's chest, causing the older male to make a strange sound in his throat and gently push Ryou off. The boy ends up rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling, his large eyes remaining unblinking in the brightening atmosphere.

"What was that?" Bakura finally asks. He had slept with Ryou many a times, but the boy had never acted that way. It was strange, unnerving. In a way, it bothered Bakura to know that the person who he needed to be stable, especially with Akefia gone, was unstable too.

"Don't worry Kura, it was a nightmare, everyone gets them." Ryou replies in a distant voice. His head then snaps towards Bakura, as though suddenly remembering something important. This caused the older teen to jump as he stared at Ryou. Bakura's eyes go slightly wide when he notices the misty green eyes that are doing a superb job at concealing his _real _emotions. "We should wake the others now." Ryou mutters softly, moving to his feet and making his way to the door.

Bakura, on the other hand, moves quickly so that he can catch up to the boy and pin him to the wall behind them, enjoying just how much the boy's shirt slips off of his shoulder. When had things gotten so lackadaisical between the two, hadn't they been serious only minutes ago?

"So, you can tell me, or get punished." Bakura says with a smirk as he runs his fingers teasingly against the younger boy's collar bone. Ryou simply blushes as he possibly looking about the room, looking for a way to escape.

"Punish me then," Ryou replies with a smirk uncharacteristic on his face, and just as Bakura comes in to start the punishment, the boy dips out quickly making his escape via the door. Bakura pouts for a moment but then scowls; he does NOT pout, before leaving the room himself and following his younger counterpart's footsteps.

"Guys, it's time to wake up." Ryou calls without his usual gusto. Bakura frowns as he stands back and stares at his better form, or at least that is how he acted. It is just so rare to see the boy unhappy, and the house seemed to revolve around his emotions. Now that he is like this, the rest of the morning is doomed to be depressing.

Ryou starts knocking on the door, though it is more like a tapping compared to the usual pounding that the boy does. Bakura sighs as he pushes the smaller boy out of the way and starts banging violently on the door. Another sigh escapes his lips as he notices how Ryou simply falls back into the wall, as though he's dead, and in a way, he probably is.

"I'll be back." Ryou mutters softly as he turns and makes his way back into his bedroom, leaving the others to be with themselves. Bakura sighs as he watches his younger companion make his way into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

This was truly odd; he had never seen Ryou so...depressed. The boy was like a bundle of energy wrapped tightly in a frail form.

At that point, the door before him opens and Bakura is faced with an unkempt Marik. The teen's hair is disheveled, sticking up in random directions, and almost looking like his older counterpart. In fact, the only reason Bakura is able to so quickly determine who is who is because Mariku is still snoring in the bed. Also, the difference in their muscular strength.

"Wow, you're up?" Marik deadpans, to the point that the statement seemed more of an insult than a question. Bakura scowls at the Egyptian teen before sighing.

"Well, Ryou is in a depressed mood. So, I'm here. So, either love it or leave." Bakura mutters and Marik simply rolls his lavender eyes as Bakura runs his fingers through his own tangled white-hair.

Marik nods at nothing as he turns and walks back into the room, taking notice as Bakura follows him and plunks down onto the bed, right beside Mariku's head.

"I love how your moods reflect each other." Marik starts sarcastically, "It's quite hilarious how you seem depressed for no fucking reason, and then feel the need to spread the feeling throughout the house!" Marik yells, startling the white-haired teen. What the hell is going on here anyway? Was the kid high again?

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bakura sneers, standing so that he is staring the teen in the eye. Acting as though he is bigger, although it is obvious that the two are roughly the same size, he didn't look intimidating.

"Me! ME? I'm not the one hung up on some kid who we just dragged along with us because he was a friend of yours! We could have-"

"Is that how you feel?" Ryou whispers, cutting off the fight before it got too out of hand. His eyes now large and watering, a pale hand covering his mouth.

The two fighting teens stop and stare at each other for a moment. Then, they look at their youngest counterpart, who now had drops of saline running down porcelain cheeks. Ryou then dashes out of the room. There is a loud series of thuds, which could only be assumed as the boy running down the stairs; then the slamming the door behind him.

Bakura sighs as he starts towards the door only to have his arm grabbed by Marik.

"Not now, for once we'll have enough food for breakfast." Marik mutters, and for a moment there is silence in which the two of them stare each other down. Bakura swings his fist at Marik and hits him square in the jaw. He watches as the younger teen flies back a bit, before landing upon Mariku.

The sleeping teen then jumps up and looks around the room. He immediately notices Marik breathing heavily with a large cut across his lips and Bakura staring at Marik, well, more so glowering at him. After coming to a quick decision, Mariku gets up and tackles Bakura to the ground, blindly throwing punches at the teen in hopes of mutilating him ten times the amount that Bakura did to Marik. The fighting continues blindly until Marik finally stops Mariku once he believes Bakura has gotten enough.

The two then look down at Bakura, who now has a bleeding nose and lips. In addition, he seems to have multiple bruises across both his face and his arms; most importantly, his eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily, something he did when he has accepted his defeat.

"Why the hell did you hit Marik?" Mariku growls out, standing before his younger counterpart in a defensive position.

Bakura doesn't answer immediately; instead he try to calm his breathing, taking in rasping breaths to fill his parched lungs. After a moment, he calms down and moves so that he is seated upright, his burgundy eyes boring into the plum eyes that belong to Mariku.

"He told Ryou that he's the reason that we have a lack of money," Bakura mutters, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He knew that when Ryou first came, it had been a struggle to survive, but hell, the whitenette was the reason that they had made it this far and the reason that they were going to keep going.

"He's right. We were perfectly fine without him. Look at this, because of him we are all weak and living in houses. We now rely on so much food to survive instead of easily going long periods of time without eating. We are in a fucking school for half of the day, when instead we could be getting more money. Look at this, you actually give a damn about other people's feelings." Mariku rants, noticing how Bakura seems to be taking notes, preparing for a debate. Now, this was an example of just how much they had changed. A debate was something they had learned in school. They used to fight through continuous yelling, seeing who could reach the higher decibel. This, of course, often lead to people either calling the police or running from whichever alleyway they had been residing in fear of their lives.

"Because of him, we don't have to always worry about our hides being skinned; we can eat and get the nutrition we need to survive. And what's wrong with school; besides the people and education, if we get jobs, that's a steady income of money. Money that we need in order to survive. He's teaching us to be normal!" Bakura rebuts as Mariku simply rolls his eyes.

"What happened to ya?" Mariku mutters before exiting the room, leaving Marik and Bakura alone for a moment.

Bakura growls as he pushes his way to his feet and sighs. He then takes a moment and stares over at Marik, who is currently looking anywhere but the white-haired teen.

"Would you look at me? Dammit, Marik, what the hell is wrong with you?" Bakura growls as he stares at the remaining teenager. To say he was pissed would be an understatement. He had just been beaten senseless by two people that he was supposed to be able to trust and rely on and at this point in time they would gladly leave him for worse if they had the chance to.

"It's just strange to see you guys fight like that. We have changed, haven't we? I don't like this change. I want Ryou gone." The last words were said so firmly and with such finality; one would almost forget the meekness with which the prior statements were made with. After his bold statement Marik makes his way out of the room and to start preparing for their day.

Another snarl from Bakura as the teen looks over to the clock and then sighs. They were going to be late, and he still had to find the first aid kit to hide these bruises. They didn't need the school getting suspicions about what was really going on in their lives.

_Elsewhere_

"Hey," comes the meek voice as the white haired-teen enters into the meeting room. I raise a single eyebrow at the teen as he makes his way over to the chair and takes a seat. He pulls his legs up with him and bends his knees so that he is scrunched up on the chair.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" I ask the teenager. I mean, you would think that after being the one to beg for it so vehemently, he would be the one to always attend and be that perfect student that everyone hated.

"I know, but I just can't face them right now. I guess I haven't felt this hated since-"

"Since last year," I finish for him, knowing just how much he hates bringing up the incident from the prior year.

"What happened?" I finally ask, realizing that he is purposefully being reserved about the topic just to ensure that I would ask the question instead of him bringing it up. It is an easy way to be able to say all that you want. The person could blab on and on about themselves while not feeling any guilt. After all, you were the one to bring up the topic.

"Do you think that I am detrimental to the group?" He finally asks, and immediately I feel an eyebrow shoot up. Of course, I remember when he first joined and everything became tough because we were unprepared to support another living being; we had all hated him. Well, all of us except Bakura, who told us that he would be extremely helpful.

Of course, this didn't happen for a while, seeing as the boy was afraid of everyone except Bakura. One day, as we were going out for our usual raid, he asked us a simple question. '_Why don't we just pickpocket in the rich part of town?'_ And that had been the first change we had made. He later showed us different types of food that cost less and that no one would notice if we swiped. Then, there was art, and it kept building and building. The boy learned to hack, and then to fight, and soon people were hiring us for our skills. Was that wrong or scary that a, what, ten year old boy was able to teach us to survive. Who knows? Now because of him, we have a house, can go to school, have chances to make it to college and someday live lives as normal people.

The boy seems to take my silence as a bad thing, and I notice a few tears run down his cheeks as the boy makes his way to his feet and starts heading to the door. Immediately, I shoot out my hand and grab him, quickly pulling the boy onto my lap and holding him close.

"You have no clue how much you have helped us." I mutter into his ear as the boy moves and cuddles into my chest. Dear Ra, I'm blushing! When the hell have I ever blushed? The boy needs to stop shifting; I don't want to just push him off-that would be wrong-but, if he continues this…

I close my eyes and the boy finally stops shifting, and I can feel his eyes on me. Slowly open my own and am faced with large emerald eyes staring at me. The boy, innocently sitting on my lap, looks years younger than he actually is.

"Shh," I hush the boy, noticing the tears that escape his eyes as he once again rests his head against my chest. I sigh; Ryou has always been a bit of a cry baby, and well, he is sensitive with his feelings. Something as ridiculous as a pissy person blowing up on him can make him cry.

After a moment, the boy is silent and shifts again, causing more intimate parts to rub together. I groan silently, and I can hear a small squeak from his throat. The boy bucks his hips again, this time with more force than the accident, and I loll my head back and moan.

I feel small hands grab my cheeks, and I am forced to look down at the young teenager.

"I'm impressed," I mutter with a smirk as I lean in further and capture his lips. I had never kissed him before, but what I really didn't expect was for him to be such an expert, or for his lips to feel so soft, or for this to feel so right.

I lean further into the kiss and smirk as a small moan escapes the teen's lips. I take this opportunity to slip my tongue into his mouth and explore the new cavern. I then slowly move forward, purposefully crushing the boy between the floor and my body. I smirk again as he moans, his chest heaving beneath me.

_He better not have any plans of leaving this facility any time soon._

_Detention_

"Hey look, a newbie." A young kid yells as he looks over to his friend. The friend, with aqua colored hair, snickers in an annoying perverted way as he brings up a finger and pushes his glasses back. Another teenager, this one also with aqua hair, rolls his eyes at the two and sighs.

"Those two are always in detention, whereas others of us would like to keep up a decent reputation," the boy explains as he nods towards me. I simply cock an eyebrow at him, wondering what he could possibly mean by that.

"I'm sorry, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself; my name is Noah." The boy informs me, holding out a hand. Hesitantly, I take it and give it a good shake before he makes his way back to where he was seated.

"So, what can we do ya for?" A buff teen with dark blue hair and a deep tan asks, and I simply cock an eyebrow. Should I understand these implications?

"Well, obviously you want _something_ if you're in _this _detention." Noah informs, well, more so insinuates, and that is when my eyes go wide. This detention was the center of the school's black market, which meant that there could be anything in here, from drugs to offers for different crazy types of sex.

"What do you have?" I ask, mildly curious. I don't really know what I want, or more so what I need. All I know that I need something to get me high. I have been feeling like shit lately, and I really need a good pick me up.

Well, it has been a long, long time since I have touched a drug. I mean, I had to get clean for school, and well, after a while I guess I just really didn't need it anymore. I guess it was because I got off of it at a very young age; therefore allowing the rest of me to be fine or some shit like that. Now, I just might be coming back.

"Crack or ecstasy, I need a real pick me up right now." I inform him. I have to admit, I really like that nasty smirk that Noah seems to be giving me.

"I would be glad to hook you up; I just need your name." Noah whispers, and I can't help it as my lips curl up more. I was getting connections back; and truth be told, that was the one thing that I had been missing for the longest time ever.

"Marik," I answer, and with that, Noah starts digging around in his book bag before pulling out a small box and a tiny plastic bag full of pills. I smirk as he hands me the bags and I pull out my wallet, quickly paying him and making my way to the seat just before the teacher walks in.

_With Akefia and Ryou_

We are both panting; trying to relax our breathing after the activities that we had just indulged in. Had we given ourselves completely up to each other? No. I have no intentions of being charged with molesting a minor, and honestly, I think Ryou is purposefully saving himself for someone else. Bakura probably, and trust me, I'll find a way to get into that.

Of course, that didn't stop him from fooling around with me, and it didn't stop either of us from playing 'dirty'. And honestly, I for one had no intention of stopping, especially when we started learning of each other's more intimate parts.

Ryou had definitely surprised me by being more than two inches, whereas Ryou's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when I let him feel my length. The day came and went so quickly, although for once I am sure I am glad that it came and went the way it did, since I was able to have a taste of what I had long been missing.

"It's almost time for me to leave," Ryou mutters into my chest, and reflexively, I pull the boy closer. I feel him nuzzle slightly into my chest a bit, and a small smile forms on my lips.

"Do you have too?" I whine playfully. The smaller boy chuckles, but I soon feel him moving away from my chest and I frown. The boy was going to be leaving me soon, and then I would be alone again, back with a bunch of horny men.

"It's the policy," Ryou whispers. I sigh as I feel the teen removing himself from my grip and making his way to the door.

"Fine," I mutter while getting up to see him off. I frown even more so as the bolts are released and slowly the door opens. Ryou turns towards me and flashes me a bright smile before slowly making his way out of the room, leaving me alone until the guards moved me back to my cell.

_At Home_

It is dark in the house when I arrive, hopefully signaling that I can get in without anyone noticing. I don't want to be targeted again, and then yelled at even more for not attending school today. In fact, the only things that I want to do are curl up in bed and wait for this damned day to be over with.

I quickly pick the lock and sneak into the house. I look around the entryway and smirk. No one is around; however, it does seem like there is someone in the living room. Either way, the stairs are right over there, so all I have to do is sprint up them and get to my room.

Carefully, I scan the wall and make it to the stairs. I quickly look up to make sure that there isn't anyone there, and then silently sprint up the stairs and down the hallway once I am sure I'm in the clear.

I peek into my room and let out a sigh of relief when I don't see Bakura. I quietly make my way into the room, just in case he is somewhere beyond my point of view. Once I am sure that he is not here, I take a seat on my bed and let out a sigh of relief. Today has been too much, way too much, and the only thing I want to do is relax.

I quickly get changed and prepare myself for bed, completely ignoring the fact that I hadn't eaten anything all day, and finally go to sleep. Hopefully the next time I wake up this damned day will be over.

_Elsewhere_

It had been another…day in the household. New things were penetrating and being extracted from the household, with and without the notice of the residents. No one really cared though; at this point in time the house was a battlefield with three teams, though two teams were fighting for the same cause.

"You're high," Mariku deadpans, staring at the Egyptian teenager beside him. They had all taken drugs at one point or another. Well, with the exception of little mister perfect, but, they had all gone down that path once, but after little mister perfect came along and found out, they stopped.

"Yeah, I kind of needed a pick me up after everything that happened." Marik informs and Mariku rolls his eyes. Sure, he wouldn't mind taking a shot, pill, needle, anything to really pick him up, but did Marik not understand that money was of the essence?

"Don't we all," Mariku mutters looking around the living room. He swore he had heard the door shut. It was probably little mister perfect back from his day of trying to hang out with the big boys. He couldn't help the little eye roll he added there, and the small chuckle that escaped his lips at the thought of little mister perfect sneaking around, like a thief.

"Sorry, not sharing," Marik whispers with a smirk, probably thinking that was probably my thoughts. Why the hell should he have to share when he had to pay for it all? "However, I will tell you where they can link you up." Marik continues, and Mariku cocks an eyebrow. That actually didn't sound like a bad idea. However, if they were both getting high, then they would be spending double the money that could go to better use.

At that moment there was the slam of a door, and the two Egyptians turn to see a fuming Bakura walking through the front door.

"No luck," Marik asks offhandedly, already knowing the reason why their 'friend' had left earlier.

"None at all," Bakura hisses, making his way into the kitchen and pulling out a water bottle. He looks at the little plastic bottle and sighs. He quickly spins off the cap and downs the entire thing in seconds only to frown; this was not what he wanted, not even close.

"He's upstairs," Mariku deadpans, and Bakura's eyes go wide. "He tried sneaking in a bit earlier; he was almost completely soundless." Mariku continues, completely ignoring Bakura's bulging eyes.

Bakura growls slightly before charging up the stairs and making his way into Ryou's room. There, the older white-haired teen stops and stares at the scene that he is met with.

There, on the bed, Ryou is silently crying into his pillow, not even taking notice to the new person within his room. The teen looked absolutely pathetic, just lying there, crying and crying like he was some giant baby.

But of course, Bakura felt slightly bad for him, but he also didn't. It was pathetic how one person's opinion on you could make you feel so pathetic. He hated it!

_**Mariku's Journal,**_

_**Dammit, okay first of all, I want to say this: WHO THE FUCK DOES RYOU THINK HE IS GOING AROUND YELLING AT US ABOUT SCHOOL AND THEN NOT ATTENDING HIMSELF! That is the definition of a hypocrite my little Perfection Queen, ha Perfection Queen my ASS! I have also decided to stop calling Ryou male, because obviously, no male would cry themselves to sleep over something as pathetic as a comment. I mean, you would think that after last year's incident, he would have grown some balls, but, I guess not.**_

_**Now, remember that entry when I wrote about how easy life is and all that wonderful shit. It was a lie! Ra knows what I was smoking or who snuck what into my food, but I must have been higher than a mother fucker to believe that anything good could come from this life, or that damned girl.**_

_**Damn, now I need a fag. Maybe I should borrow one from Marik; wait, there is no way in hell he's going to share with me. Hmm, might have to jack one while he isn't looking. Yeah, that will work, I mean the kid is currently higher than the moon; damn I can probably take him for one hell of a ride tonight. Yeah bitches! Okay, so I guess I won't be writing in this for the rest of the night.**_

_**Wait, why the hell did I write this if I am supposed to be antagonizing our Perfection Queen, but no, instead I am writing here like his little bitch! Ra dammit, I think the most annoying part of this entire thing is that I am still writing this. I guess it is just the fact that I can rant to somebody.**_

_**That's another thing, expressing anger. Now that Marik is back on drugs, (I know this won't be a onetime thing) I have no one to vent to. Is it strange that I now have no one to confide in? I thought we were a family, but no, everyone is their own team in a household that is going to war. **_

_**Uh…night…**_

**Author's Notes:**

**Thank my new editor ….! Sorry, privacy has her name like that **

**Okay, well another chapter done, and as I said, these chapters are going to lead to the crappy plot. So, be prepared for the worst or the best. Or the cookie.**

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